Shattered Dreams
by seasidehearts
Summary: Maybe her dreams were not meant to come true. Maybe they were not meant to be. ...Maybe he could change that. [SxK AU][Now completely edited.]
1. At The Beginning

**So now the stories complete & I have no life but to go back and slightly edit/rewrite the chapters. Fun times, eh?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts in any way, shape, or form.**

Shattered Dreams: Chapter 1, Kairi's POV

XXX

By just looking at my life you'd say, 'Oh she's got a perfect life! Perfect boyfriend, perfect grades, everything's perfect for her!'…But it's not. My whole entire life is planned out. Not by me, but by my parents. And my so-called "boyfriend" is an inconsiderate jerk; which I'm betrothed to, to make it even worse. Once again, not my choice. As soon as I get home from school, I have to study right away to get my 'perfect grades'. If I make less than a A-…I can look forward to a night of being beaten and yelled at. Yeah I know, harsh. But this is my life, and what I'm use to…I know better to complain, I learned that the hard way when I was little. One day, I'll escape from all of this, but for now, I will just have to stay in this living nightmare.

XXX

"_BEEP_! _BEEP_!" The alarm clock buzzed repeatedly, causing me to awake and blindly reach for the snooze button. Missing the first few times, I finally managed to turn off the stupid thing. I tried to go back asleep again, but that was not exactly the best idea.

I felt a sting spread across my face and heard my mother screech, "Wake _up_!"

"I'm up…" I replied quietly as I stood, tears filling my eyes from the sting of her slap.

"You'd better be." She spat before walking out of the room, slamming the door closed.

Knowing I was alone, I wept silently to myself as I got ready for school. _'She use to be so nice…What could have happened?' _I sighed to myself as I rushed down the stairs and out the door to escape from my parents; lowering my head so they wouldn't spot the tears. They would beat me _more_ if they saw my tears of weakness.

"Hey, Kai, why are you crying?" A deep voice called from behind me, causing me to flinch.

"It wouldn't matter to you, Riku. It's not like you actually _care_ about me." I replied darkly. I know his voice all too well and did not bother to turn around and face him. I think I would have screamed in frustration if I had to look him in the eyes. I was already having a bad day; I did not need this.

I could just by the tone of his voice that he was smirking, "Of course I do. We're betrothed, aren't we?"

"Don't you get it? I _hate _you, and I always will. That was my parents decision, not mine. If I say one word against it, they'll beat me. And you can just stop pretending that you like me, because I know that you don't. Maybe if you stop lying to my parents they'll call it off." I smiled at the thought.

"But I do like you, Kai." Riku replied huskily, brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear.

Immediately jumping back from his touch, I hissed, "Don't touch me."

"Fine." Riku retreated his hand with a deep frown, stuffing his hands in his pockets and beginning off towards the school. I sighed in relief. If he really wanted to have done something right then and there, he could of. Thank god he wasn't persistent today.

As soon as I reached the school, my two best (and only) friends greeted me; Selphie and Sora. "Hiya, Kairi!" They both gave a small wave as I approached them.

"Hi…" I sighed heavily, causing Sora to frown.

"Riku again, huh?" The brunette asked and I nodded in response.You see, even though Riku is the most popular guy in school and he supposedly tells everyone I'm his girlfriend, everyone still hates me. Selphie, I first thought kind was only being a friend to me because she felt sorry for me and she probably hoped that if being betrothed to Riku ever made me popular, she would be too because she is my friend; but she quickly proved that theory wrong. Sora I have known since we were in kindegarten. From the first day we met he has always been there for me, to comfort and defend me. Most boys I know at the school have all done something to make me dissaprove of them, but never Sora. Some of his other friends are okay with me, but they have their moments. I love them both to death, but there is one thing that bothers and embarrasses me to no end; Selphie is always trying to get me to admit that I like Sora; most of the time, infront of him. But I do not '_like_', I _love_ Sora. But of course, I was never going to admit _that._

"I just wish he would just leave me alone…" I whined, crossing my arms and leaning against a nearby tree.

"I still don't get why you don't like Riku," Selphie sighed as her eyes glazed over with a dazed look, "He's so _hot_."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever you say, Selphie. I still think Sora is the only guy in this school that actually _has_ emotions."

"Thanks?" Sora laughed, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"I don't think so..." Selphie whimpered and blinked her emerald eyes continuously, adding a pout.

"Think what you want Selphie, but I _know_." I replied confidentially, standing up straight again.

"You do know why she excluded you, right Sora?" Selphie gave an evil smirk in my direction as she started.

Eyes widening and my face beginning to burn, I whispered loudly, "Selphie, no!"

"Because she liiiikes youuu!" Selphie exclaimed in a sing-song voice, bursting into laughter as she finished.

"Selphie!" I could just feel my face turning more scarlet by the second.

"It's okay, Kairi. I know she's just doing that to get on your nerves." Sora replied with what looked to be half-hearted smile.

I frowned a bit. Was he _disappointed_? Pretending that I had not noticed, I stuck my tongue out at Selphie triumphantly, "Ha! See that won't work anymore, Selphie!"

"Aw!" Selphie pouted, dragging her feet as she trailed along behind Sora and me as we entered the school.


	2. I Belong

**And the editing continues.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts….**

Shattered Dreams: Chapter Two

XXX

"Come on…" I stared hopefully at the clock, watching it slowly tick towards the three.

"Three…two…one!" A kid behind me exclaimed, signaling the bell and also all the students to rush out the door.

"Wait! Oh never mind…" The teacher tried to get us to come back, but that won't ever happen; especially since it is Friday.

Reaching the hallway where we usually I met, I stood on my tiptoes so I could spot them and yelled out, "Sora, Selphie!"

"Kairi, over here!" I laughed because Selphie had to find a chair to stand on so I could find them. I quickly walked over to where they were and leaned lazily against the wall.

"Hi…" I panted heavily, causing them both to give me worried stares.

"Man, was it really that hard to find us?" Sora laughed with his traditional grin.

"Yeah…" I replied, now beginning to slide slowly down the wall.

Looking up to me as she finished cramming things into her backpack, Selphie commented, "You really need to get some exercise, Kairi."

"Even if I wanted to, I can't. You know my _wonderful_ life, only time for study." I replied with a roll of my eyes, my voice dripping with sarcasm, now currently located on the ground because I had slid all the way down the wall.

Changing the subject, Sora then took my hand and pulled me up, stating, "Well c'mon, we'd better get going. That is, unless you two want to spend your weekend here at school."

"No way!" I exclaimed, giving a glance to Selphie; a signal. Nodding to each other we both took off, leaving Sora behind.

"Hey, wait up!" He called out behind us, beginning to run to catch up. Running all the way to the road where my house was, I stopped dead in my tracks right then and there.

"What is it--oh." Selphie's voice lowered.

"Don't worry, we'll stay right here, incase they do something." Sora whispered in my ear and I nodded. I put my hand over the doorknob when suddenly the door slammed open.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE _DOING?_!" I felt a hard slap across my face for the second time today, with plenty more coming I assumed.

"Hey, _stop it_!" I heard Sora yell out and when I opened my eyes again he was standing in front of me, between me and my Mom.

"_Move_…" My Mom hissed through her clenched teeth.

"No." Sora replied in a low tone, not budging an inch from where he stood.

"I said, MOVE!" She was getting ready to punch him, but I stood in front of him. I got hit, and we both toppled over the stairs and onto the front lawn.

"Ow…" I heard Sora's voice from beneath me and I realized I landed on top of him.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Sora!" I exclaimed as I scrambed to get up, kneeling beside him once I did.

"Kairi! Sora!" Selphie ran over and kneeled down beside us.

Ignoring Selphie and Sora's existence, my Dad turned to me and glared coldly through his glasses, "You…You stay out of my sigh for the next two days."

"How about forever, instead?" I yelled weakly in reply. They just walked inside and slammed the door closed behind them.

"Well, this is definitely not how I wanted to end my Friday." Selphie smiled weakly to us both, "Here," She pulled us both up; I wincing as a sharp pain over took my arm.

"Ow…" I complained weakly.

"What?" Both of their heads snapped in my direction in an instant.

"My wrist…" I cringed in pain as I tried to move it slightly.

"Lemme see," Sora grabbed my hand gently and I winced again, "Sorry. It's probably just sprained, but I'll get my mom to check it."

Nodding, I replied quietly, "Thanks."

"Come on, let's go before they come out again." Selphie glanced back at my front door before she started started walking away, Sora and I following behind her.

"Well, here's my house. Sorry I have to leave you guys all alone, especially after what just happened..." Selphie trailed off in a small tone, obviously scared for me.

"It's okay Selphie, really." I forced a smile for her sake.

Opening the door, stepping in and then beginning to close it, she gave a small smile back, "If you're sure…" Giving another reassuring nod, she finally closed the door.

Walking a few feet in silence, Sora started, "My house is only a little ways ahead. It's not as big as yours, but it's home."

"I'm sure it's heaven compared to mine." I replied with a small smile.

"Thanks," Sora laughed and paused, "Well, here it is." His house was a basic two story white house with black shudders and brick stairs leading to the front porch.

"Like I told you, not much." Sora shrugged again, staring at it almost as if he was embarassed about it.

"I think it's wonderful." I smiled at the house in adoration as I began to walk up the stairs. Sora rang the doorbell and his mom rushed to the door, opening it quickly.

"Hi I- Sora? Why'd you ring the doorbell? You have a key--Hi, Kairi! Wait a second! What happened to you two?" Her tone changed from glad to worried as she finished her exclamation.

My face flushing as I looked down towards my feet, I replied quietly in shame,"My parents."

"They've been acting very strange lately,but this? I was never expecting _this_!" She exclaimed and I felt my face heat up more, "Both of you come in here so we can get you cleaned up." I found it funny that she did not offer for me to come in, she _ordered_ me; which meant I was obviously welcome. I smiled. It was good to be in such a nice place like this.

"Mom?" Sora paused, turning back to her as she closed the door.

Turning back around, she answered, "Hmm?"

"Could you look at Kairi's wrist? She fell on it. I think it's just a sprain, but I could be wrong…" Sora trailed off worriedly, glancing to me for a second before looking back to his mom.

"Don't worry, Sora; I will. Now go upstairs and change out of those grass strained clothes."

Already half way up the stair case, he called down,"Okay!"


	3. Just Want You To Know

**Editing, yay!**

**Disclaimer: KH is not mine, end of story.**

Shattered Dreams: Chapter 3

XXX

"Okay, let's see your wrist then…" Sora's mom gave a sweet smile and gently took my hand, "Just a sprain, like Sora said. Heh, who knew he was this good at this stuff?" She laughed.

"Yeah…" I gave a half-smile and looked down at my feet again.

"Well, I'm going to go find a splint for you, so stay right there." She said as she stood up, then walking into the dimly lit kitchen.

"Okay!" I replied loudly to make myself audible.

"So," I turned and looked at the staircase, where the voice came from, to see Sora, who was now wearing a bright red hockey jersey and baggy blue jeans. He continued to walk down the stairs, "I was actually right for once? That's a miracle."

I smiled slightly, "Oh come on, Sora. You get stuff right all the time." I replied, laughing a little.

"Yeah, but I get stuff wrong a lot, too." Sora fell back onto the couch, beside me.

"What ever you say, Sora." I replied with a roll of my eyes, but laughed at the same time. Flashes of my parents and what they had done to me my whole life came into my head, causing me to shudder and sigh.

"Huh? What's wrong, Kairi?" Sora gave a worried stare towards me with those deep sapphire blue eyes.

"It's just…" I sighed again, "Why can't my life ever be _normal_? Why do my parents have to hate me somuch, why can't they be more like _your_ Mom and actually _care _about me? Why do they have to take out everything on _me_…and more importantly you and Selphie? Why did they have to make my life a living nightmare?" I choked, tears streaming down my face like a waterfall.

Sora leaned forward and wrapped his arms around me lightly. "Kairi…It's okay. I won't let _anyone_ hurt you, I promise." He whispered into my ear.

"Sorry it took so long I couldn't find any--" She paused and gasped slightly, "Kairi, what's wrong, sweetie?"

I gently pushed Sora away and stood up. "I'm tired of my parents treating me like I don't have feelings. I can't ever go back to that house again…_I can't_…" I clenched my fists. Guess what? Bad idea again. "Ouch!" I feel back onto the coach in pain from my wrist, "Thanks a lot _loving_ parents…" I muttered under my breath.

"Kairi, next time you do something like that again, _please_ think about it before you do it…," Sora's mom said as she wrapped the splint around my wrist. I nodded in reply, she continued, "I do agree with you, they definitely shouldn't treat you like they do, it's just not right. Like Sora said, we won't let anything happen to you. We'll find a way to get you out of that place."

"You--you were listening?" Sora blinked, a surprised expression on his face.

"Yeah, why?" His mom turned to him and he turned away blushing.

"N--nothing…" He replied quietly.

"Sorry." She laughed and walked into the kitchen again, ruffling his hair as she walked past him. Suddenly the door fell onto the floor with a large thud and a dark figure with silver hair stood in the doorway.

"Riku," I glared, "Leave me alone… tell my parents, I'm _not _going back. I'm never returning to that place that I've had to live my whole miserable life in. Now that I know what it feels like to have people actually _care_ about me, I can't stay in a place like that again, ever." Sora put his arms around me defensively and I smiled, but Riku only smirked.

I frowned. "What are you smirking about?" I shouted at him, and his lips only curled upward more.

"Whether you like it or not, you _are_ coming back with me. You see, you're moving tomorrow, and so am I. I don't mean like one town away, either. I mean so far away that you can't even think of your little friends back here." His voice was so filled with pleasure it was sickening.

"I'm not going. Even if you do find some way to get me out of this house, my heart will stay here, with Sora. And I _will_ find my way back here, no matter how long it takes. Whether you or my parents like it or not." I replied confidently. Riku turned around and began walking, seemingly leaving causing me to let out a sigh of relief. The next instant though, he was right back in my face and before I knew it, I wasn't in Sora's arms anymore, but Riku's.

"Let go of me!" I screamed and tried to break free of his grasp, but to no avail.

"Let go of her, Riku!" Sora lunged at Riku, but he easily dodged him.

"You're pathetic," Riku smirked, punching Sora in the stomach and watched him fall to the ground, knocked out.

"_Sora!_" I screamed out to him, but Riku took off. Once we were at my house, he practically threw me through the door.

"So, are you ready for your punishment, Kairi?" My father's voice drifted from a darkened room.

"NO!" I screamed out . Everything suddenly started fading away and all I could see was darkness, but I heard someone calling out my name…

"Kairi!…Kairi!" It was Sora's voice! "Kairi, wake up!" I slowly opened my eyes and blinked.

"Huh…?" I stared sleepily into Sora's sapphire eyes, inches away from my own.

Standing back up, he gave a smile of relief, "Good, you're okay…"

"Sora, you're still here!" I jumped up and hugged him tightly but quickly let go, glancing at the door which had no sign of damage, "Wait a minute…How'd I get back here? And how the door get fixed that quick?"

"What are you talking about? You fell asleep a couple hours ago when you stopped crying. You were just dreaming…" The brunette rubbed my back reassuringly, yawning after he finished his sentence.

"So, Riku didn't come take me and I'm not moving?" I looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

"Unless your dreams can tell the future, then no." He flashed a grin before collapsing backwards onto the other couch, stretching out and closing his eyes.

"Why are you sleeping on a couch?" I gave a curious stare to the boy.

Sora stared at the ceiling as he replied, "What's the point of sleeping upstairs if I'm just gonna have to wake up and run down here if you scream again?"

"You could just ignore me." I suggested with a shrug.

"What kind of friend would I be if I did that?" Sora actually looked at me this time, a smile at his lips.

I smiled back and laughed in reply, "Not a very good one I guess. But I'd forgive you if you were fast asleep and couldn't hear me."

"Um…Thanks." Sora turned away again.

"Night." I said pulling the switch to turn the lamp off, darkness overtaking the room.

He replied quietly, "…Night."


	4. Surfacing

**Some of the original dialogue in this embarrasses me so much lol. I'm so glad my writing skills improved. Back to editing now, I suppose.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

Shattered Dreams: Chapter Four

XXX

I awoke the next morning to heavy pounding on the front door. Jumping up from the couch I was sleeping on and rushing to Sora's, I began to shake the brunette by his shoulders, "Sora! Hey, Sora, wake _up_!"

"Five more minutes…" Sora muttered sleepily; jumping up once the knocks sounded again. "Wha? Who the heck's here this early in the morning…?" Sora blinked and dragged himself lazily toward the door.

"It's noon, Sora." I laughed slightly.

Sora raised an eyebrow and looked at a clock, "Oh…"

"Open up, this is the police!" Me and Sora looked at each other in horror.

"The_ police…?_" We both ran to the door and opened it quickly.

"…Is there anything wrong, officer?" Sora slightly smiled, but the fear on his face was obvious.

"That girl," The officer pointed at me, "has been reported kidnapped."

"_Kidnapped_?" I yelled in outrage, "I came here at free will! And besides, my parents said they didn't want me in their house for the weekend!"

"Well..." The officer trailed off, running his fingers through his short light blonde hair.

"Listen. _Please_, just call my parents and tell them that all I did was did what they told me to do, and nothing else." I finished with a deep sigh.

He pulled his cell phone out of his holder hanging on his belt. He dialed the number and held the phone up to his ear.

With nothing but, "Uh-huh….yeah, okay." he hung up.

"So…?" I asked curiously with a slight tilt of my head.

"Well, they said they remembered, that you can stay here for the rest of the weekend, and that they'd see you on Monday. Sorry to bother you." The officer walked out the front door and slowly closed it behind him. Sora sighed and fell back onto the couch in relief.

"I'm surprised they actually let me stay here…There's something wrong." I shook my head in disbelief. Just when I thought things could not get any worse…

Sora seemed to be reading my mind, "What could they possibly do now?"

"I don't know, but they'll certainly think of something…" I sighed again, brushing through my crimson hair with my hand.

"I guess so," Sora sighed and closed his eyes. There was complete silence for a couple of minutes until there was a knock on the door yet again.

He thought aloud as he started to get up, "I wonder who it is _now_?"

"I'll get it this time." I pulled myself up and looked out the eyehole to see none other than our spunky friend, Selphie.

A smile quickly spread across my face as I opened the door and exclaimed, "Hi, Selphie!"

"Hi! Hiya, Sora." Selphie greeted as she stepped inside, I closing the door behind her.

"Hi…" He replied tiredly.

"Did something _else_ happen?" Selphie glanced between the two of us with a worried expression.

"Yeah…" I plopped myself down on the coach next to Sora, Selphie taking the place on the other side of me, "The police came this morning, saying I was kidnapped."

"Oh my god! What did you guys _do?_" Selphie was practically bouncing around the room, she was so worried and curious.

"I told him the truth. My parents told me to stay out of the house for the weekend. So he called them, and surprisingly they told him they remembered and it was okay with them to stay here…" I trailed off.

"That's really weird…" Selphie commented raising an eyebrow.

Running a hand through my hair, I answered, "Yeah, I know."

"I've been wondering…" A sigh escaped from Selphie's lips, "If your parents hate you so much…Why didn't they put you up for adoption?" Selphie was eyeing the room worriedly, probably thinking I was going to get mad at her for asking.

"I don't know, but I'm glad they didn't." I replied with a small smile.

"Huh? But, if some one else adopted you, you probably would have lived a much better life." Selphie bit her lip in confusion.

"But even if I did live a happier life somewhere else, I probably never would have met you two. No matter how much torture I go through everyday, none of it matters because I know you guys will always be there for me." I laughed slightly, wiping stray tears that had escaped from my eyes.

Sora began to reach out, "Kairi.."

"I'm okay, Sora. I'm just so happy I have you two. I'd be lost without you." I buried my head into Sora's shoulder, Selphie patting my back sympathetically.

"And I'd be lost without _you_." I heard Sora mutter, even though he probably thought I did not hear him. I closed my eyes and smiled, slowly drifting to sleep.

XXX

"Hey, Kai, wake up!" I heard Selphie calling my name, trying to pull me out of my sleep.

I sat up and blinked, "Kai…? When'd you think of that, Selphie?" I laughed.

Selphie just shrugged, "I dunno. Well come on, we were gonna walk for a while as soon as you woke up. So, can we go now?" Selphie tapped her foot impatiently.

"Uh, sure?" I answered, confused. I was asleep the whole time and she was acting like the plans were _my_ idea.

"Yay!" Selphie chirped and then yelled, "Hey, Sora! Kairi woke up, we can go now!"

Sora then emerged, walking down the staircase with a yawn, "Why do you want us to go for a walk, Selphie?"

"I dunno. I'm just really bored and that was the first thing I thought of." Selphie answered as Sora locked the front door, then they both began to walk in the direction of my house.

Giving a noise as if I was clearing my throat, I then trailed out nervously, "Um…"

"Oh, right; this way." Sora turned on his heels to the other direction.

"Where are we suppose to be going, any way?" I gave a questioning stare towards Selphie.

Laughing nervously, she replied, "Eh, I didn't really think about that…"

"Doesn't really matter, we can go anywhere; as long as we get back before my mom does. She'll kill me if we don't." Sora laughed, running his fingers through his bangs.

I laughed half-heartedly, thinking that my parents would actually come _close_ to killing me if I did that, and he would only get yelled at. _'Wait a minute…Even though I don't live there, his mom treats me like I'm her own daughter…Even if I technically live with my parents, my true home will always be with my friends.' _I laughed happily, finally figuring out what 'home' really was.

"You're in a better mood." Selphie gave a small smile.

"Eh, sorta." I merely shrugged in reply.

XXX

"When I call your name, please come up and get your test paper. Kairi!" I pushed in my chair and walked up to the teacher and she handed me the paper.

"Oh my god…" I looked down at the paper in horror. An F…My parents were not going tolet me get away from them this time. '_I'm sure they're mad enough from me staying at Sora's all weekend…_' I sighed. The 4th period bell then rang, signaling the lunch period.

"Hi, Kairi!" Selphie chirped as I walked out of the classroom and into the hallway.

I looked down at my feet, "Hi…"

"What happened? Was it Riku again?" Selphie asked worried, leaning closer and trying to see if I was crying.

"No…" I looked back up, "I got an F. My parents are probably mad enough for not being there all weekend. Who knows what they'll do now…" I could feel tears trying to surface from eyes.

"Kairi, don't forget that me and Sora promised that we wouldn't let _anything_ happen to you." Selphie reminded me, her hand now upon my shoulder.

I nodded, quietly replying, "Yeah."

"It may just be me, but I find it strange that every time I see you with your friends you happen to be crying." Riku stated in an amused voice, diverting me and Selphie eyes to him.

"They're not the reason I'm crying!" I yelled back in reply. He was truly kidding himself, he always showed up at the worst moments on purpose.

"Why are you then?" Riku smirked whenI didn't answer. If I told him I got an F, he would call my parents and they would find out earlier than I wanted them to know, "See, I _knew_ it was them. C'mon Kairi. If you hangout with me, you'll have plenty of friends and you'll never have to cry anymore." He reached out his hand, but quickly retreated it after Sora filled the gap between me and Riku.

"Hey, leave her alone! If she wanted to be with you, she would have answered you years ago." Sora glared at him as he made his statement. Giving a quick glare to the brunette, Riku then walked away.

"Thank you, Sora." I looked down at my feet again , trying to hide the tears of frustration that now managed to surface.

"Kairi, please don't cry…I know Riku's been bugging you more often now, but," Sora gently brushed his hand against my face, wiping away the tears, "He doesn't deserve your tears."

"Sora…" I replied quietly, giving him a grateful smile.

I felt a light tap on my shoulder and turned around quickly. "I'm sorry, Kairi. I gave you Ms. Talton's paper, here you go." Ms. Wilson gave me my rightful test paper, and walked away. I sighed in relief, thankfully it was an A. I then looked at a short blond haired girl that I noticed had been eyeing us since Riku left. Squinting my eyes and staring at her she then got up and start walked to Riku's table. The silver haired teen slightly stood up and glared in Sora's direction.

"Hey Sora," I tapped him on the shoulder causing him to turn around, "I think that girl over there just told Riku something. Look,"

He caught sight of Riku's cold stare and drew back slightly, "He doesn't look too happy with me."

"Well, what did you do? I mean, you haven't really done anything. Unless…" I trailed off.

"Unless, what?" He asked, curiosity laced in his voice.

"Unless that girl told Riku we were going out or something…" I felt a blush began to creep across my cheeks and slightly turned away as I answered.

"By the looks of it, that looks like that's exactly what she said." Selphie nodded in Riku's direction.

Sora groaned quietly, "Oh man, he's gonna kill me."

"I won't let him hurt you, Sora." I quickly stated, though I am not exactly sure why. In reality, if Riku tried to hurt Sora I most likely would not be able to help very much. In fact, I would probably more of get in Sora's way.

Sora's face fell again, "No, Kairi. I'm not putting you in that danger. If he does hurts anyone, it'll be me."

"Sora…" I trailed off, interrupted by the bell ringing. Sora quickly got up and walked away so that he would not have to argue with me anymore. I was about to run after him until I felt a sharp pain in my left arm and was pulled backwards.

"Tell Sora," I heard Riku's voice, "this is his warning." Riku ran off and I looked down at my arm.

"Oh my god…" I made a gasp as I looked down at the long, but shallow cut slit into my arm. I inhaled sharply and started walking towards the nurse's office.

"What _happened_?" I heard her gasp as soon as I walked through the door.

"Um…I think one of the lockers was broken and I accidentally brushed my arm against it when I was walking to class…" I lied quickly.

"Poor girl, I'll be sure to tell the janitors to keep an eye out for that locker. I'll be right back." She exited the room.

"Phew…At least she believed me." I muttered and gave a sigh of relief. I tensed up as she came back in the room, I guess because I was worried it might have been Riku.

"Here," She slowly wrapped the bandage around my arm.

"Great…Now I look like a mummy." I muttered under my breath, staring at the two tan bandages that covered both of my arms.

"Here's a note," the nurse handed me a sticky note, "You can go back to class now." I nodded, quickly walking out of the room into the deserted hallway.

Entering my class and walking to the teacher's desk, I trailed off as I handed him the note, "Uh, here…"

"I'll mark you present but you know, there's only about two minutes left before school ends." He nodded towards the clock.

"Oh…May I go get my stuff?" He nodded again and I walked out to my locker, conveniently happening to be right outside of this class, "I have a bad feeling my day is going to get a lot worse as soon as I step out of this school." I sighed to myself as I crammed all my junk into my backpack. When the final bell of the school day rang I immediately backed up to avoid being ran over by all of the other kids.

"_Kairi_! There you are! Some one said you got stabbed!" I head Selphie shriek as she and Sora quickly made their way towards me.

I turned towards their worried faces, "Not exactly stabbed…" I unwrapped the bandages slightly to show them the wound.

Sora's teeth clenched as he asked, "Who did this to you?"

"Riku, of course." I sighed, looking to Sora and continuing, "he said…consider it a warning to you."

"I'll get him." Sora hissed through his clenched teeth.

"Sora!" I wrapped my arms around him and cried into his shirt, "Please don't! I don't want you to get hurt because of me and my stupid family issues!"

"Kairi, we can't let anyone hurt you like this!" Selphie yelled. She was obviously angry, too.

"I appreciate it, really. But I don't want you to get hurt because of me." I let go of Sora, stepping backwards and glancing between them with a grateful smile.

Selphie sighed, and shook her head,"Kairi…"

"Kairi, we'd do anything for you. We can't just stand here and watch while you get hurt. I would rather die then just watch them hurt you." Sora outpoured his thoughts, looking away from me as he finished.

"I _can't_ let you guys get hurt because of me! I know you would do anything for me, I honestly do; I'd do the same for _you_! But…" I looked away, "You guys, please…you don't have to help me. I can take this."

"Kairi,_ please _stop talking like that!" Sora grabbed both of my shoulders, stating, "We're going to protect you whether you like it or not."

"Sora, please! I-" My sentence was cut short as all the strength I had escaped from my body and my head began to sear with pain. Clutching my head, I fell onto Sora; his arms supporting me as he eased me down to the floor.

"Kairi, what's wrong?" I heard Selphie yell before everything went black.

XXX

"…Huh?" I slowly blinked open my eyes, mentally stating, _'I'm at Selphie's house…'_

"Kairi…" I heard some one say softly. Looking down off the side of the couch, there was Sora; fast asleep, leaning against the couch in a sitting position with his head against his knees. I laughed quietly, trying not to wake him up, but failed in my attempt.

Sora slowly opened his eyes and looked down at the floor, "Kairi…"

"Yeah?"

His head shot up in my direction, "You're awake?"

"Uh-huh." I nodded with a light giggle.

"That's good," The brunette let out a sigh of relief, "We were really worried about you." Sora turned away for a moment to look at the other couch, "Well I guess we should wake Selphie up, huh?" He turned back to me with a smile; even in the dark I could still see that he was blushing.

"Probably," I stood up, stepping over Sora and making my way to the other couch. "Hey Selphie." I poked her continuously until she jumped up angrily.

"_WHAT_?"

"…She woke up." Sora pointed at me, a blank expression on his face from her outburst.

"Oh," Selphie giggled at herself, "Sorry, I just don't like to be woken up."

"Oh man…" I said quietly as I came to a realization, "My parents are not going to be happy with me. I've been gone for four days." A small silence passed by before some one spoke.

"Hey, Kairi?" Selphie asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"Yeah?" I replied as I looked down at her.

"I know this may seem really random, but, what would you wish for more than anything in the world?" She tapped two of her fingers against her lips in thought.

"Definitely to not be betrothed to Riku." I answered with a laugh, taking a pause then continuing, "But, you know…Even if he was more like us, I still wouldn't like him."

Sora's face twisted in confusion, asking, "Huh? Why not?"

"Because you can't just love some one," I smiled, feeling as if I was in a daze as I answered, "Love is a thing that has to grow overtime. You have to feel it, not just think it because some one says you're going to get married when you're older."


	5. Why Don't You Kiss Her?

**Gah. As I said in the original, I'm sorry for the random change in POV. It'll switch back to Kairi like half way through the chapter. The original also had lyrics to the song "Why don't you kiss her?" by Jesse McCartney, which this chapter is named for. It's a really good song and has lyrics that relate to this story more than words to describe, so I highly recommend you listen to it.**

**Heartofdestiny14 is actually my screename if you're wondering lol. It's from seventh grade but I still have it linked to my main account, so it's usually online.**

**Anyways, onward with the editing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts nor the movie The Grudge.**

Shattered Dreams Chapter 5

Sora's POV

XXX

"Well, I guess we should go back to sleep; we do have school tomorrow, you know." I looked over to Kairi and Selphie, who were now sharing the opposite couch so that I would not have to sleep on the floor, which I had to argue with them about. I gladly would have taken the floor, but they just would not give up.

"Yeah." Kairi laughed slightly, closing her eyes.

Pulling the cord to turn off the lamp, Selphie exclaimed, "Night peoples!"

"Night." I answered quietly. Hours passed by, which actually was probably minutes but it sure did not feel like it, and I was still lying awake, staring at the ceiling. No matter how much I tried to go to sleep, I just could _not _do it. I couldn't stop thinking about Kairi.

'_Even if she did like me, she's betrothed to Riku…so I'm just looking for a heartbreak.'_ I sighed then whispered loudly, "Man, I need some sleep!" I groaned, turning over and facing the back of the couch. _'I'm more hopeless than I thought. Get it through your head, Sora, you can't love her!'_

"Besides…Even If I did ask her out, and Riku some how didn't cause a problem, if something happened...We couldn't go back to being best friends," I sighed quietly to myself. "Now I see why some people say love is a huge problem; it has to be so complicated," I continued my babbling to the ceiling, then suddenly came to a realization, "Kairi's birthday is next week! I wonder why she hasn't said anything." I tapped my fingers against the couch softly, "What could I get her though?"

I blinked. So far, nothing came to mind. "Ugh, guess that means I have to go shopping and just look around I guess," I sighed quietly to myself. I then turned myself back over, rolled off the side of the couch and walked over to the couch that Kairi was sleeping on, and took a seat on the floor next to her.

"I wish life didn't have to be so hard for you, Kairi. If I could, I would switch places with you, but…that can't work. So I'll just have to do my best to try and make your life a little easier. Even if that means that I have to hold my feelings back." I smiled despite the fact that the thought was bittersweet, brushing a strand of hair from her face and behind her ear.

From this, Kairi's eyes slowly started to open and caused me to jump backwards in surprise. "Gah!" I could just feel the blush creeping across my face.

Yawning and stretching out her arms, she asked, "…Sora? What were you doing?"

"Sorry for waking you up. I couldn't sleep and I was just sorta talking to myself." I gave a sheepish smile as I scratched the back of my head.

"It's okay. But what in the world were you talking to yourself?" She asked curiously with a tilt of her head.

"Eh, nothing…but Kairi, your birthday's next week, isn't it?" I quickly changed the subject.

Biting her lip in thought, she finally exclaimed, "Oh yeah, it is! I totally forgot. Why'd you ask?"

I was not expecting that question. I trailed off, "Um, just wondering…"

"Okay…" Kairi gave a suspicious stare before yawning again and asking, "What time is it, anyway?"

I shrugged, turning towards the clock hanging over the fireplace, "About three thirty."

"How long have you been awake?" She asked curiously as she pulled the covers back around her.

"Since you woke up me up giggling about something when you first woke up." Watching her eyes widen, I smirked and asked, "What _were _you laughing about, anyway?"

"Huh? Oh, eh…" Kairi stumbled with her words, biting her lip.

"Oh c'mon, just say it!" I rolled my eyes, "It's just me."

"You were talking in your sleep." Kairi answered, beginning to giggle again.

My face beginning to flush yet again, I pressed on, "…About?"

Kairi shrugged, looking upward in thought, "I dunno; you said my name, though. So what were you dreaming about?"

Blinking, I closed my eyes and tried to remember my dreams. Recalling nothing, I replied, "I don't remember. I guess it was because I was so worried about you."

Coming to a loss for words, she turned over and stated, "Oh. I guess we should go back to sleep, huh?"

"Yeah. That is if I _can_ fall asleep." I was beginning to finally feel tired, but now that Kairi was awake I did not really feel like going back to trying to fall asleep.

Laughing in reply, she answered, "Night."

"Night." I repeated for the second time tonight. I sat there for a couple of minutes staring at the ceiling again; I _still_ couldn't get the thought out of my mind. "Hey, Kairi?" I was finally going to tell her; I just got this weird boost of courage out of nowhere. Hearing no reply, I called out again, "Kairi?" Sighing, I collapsed backwards onto the couch again, "I guess she fell asleep. Well, there goes that idea. I'll probably never get a chance like this again."

XXX

**Change in POV here**

XXX

The next couple of days, my parents were acting really weird; at least for themselves. They were actually being _nice. _That, I did not think was humanly possible for them.

"Kairi, could you come in here, please?" I flinched at my mom's voice, actually sounding _sweet._ I calmly walked into the kitchen and faced her. "I'm afraid we have some bad news…" She sighed, and looked up at me from the vegetables she was cutting.

'_Here's the reason why they've been so nice…'_ I thought, but instead replied, "Okay…What is it?"

"Well," The older woman let out another sigh before continuing, "You're not betrothed to Riku anymore."

"_Huh?_" I exclaimed, wide-eyed in disbelief. She _had_ to be lying to me.

Her eyes dashing around the house and avoiding mine, she began to explain, "Well, the only reason your marriage was arranged is because of his family's money. They went into debt a couple days ago. So, we canceled it."

"C-can I go for a walk?" I stuttered from the shock. Was I _dreaming_? Or was this really happening?

"Oh, yes, of course. I'm sure you're very upset right now…" She patted my back sympathetically and handed me a tissue from the box on the counter. I pretended to dab my eyes, faking a sniffle as I walked out the door.

I ran as far as I could from my house before my legs gave out and yelled, _"YES!"_ I sighed happily, "My life is _finally_ getting better!" I spun around in circles, laughing. I was _so_ happy; nothing could ruin this moment.

"Kairi what are you _doing_?" Whirling around to face Selphie with a wide smile, she stated the obvious, "You seem happy."

"I'm not betrothed to Riku!" I exclaimed, practically jumping up and down. Actually, I probably _was._

"Oh my gosh, Kairi! No wonder you're so happy!" Selphie squealed, latching her arms around me and both of us laughing loudly.

Pulling away and crossing her arms with a smirk, she asked, "So, you're gonna tell Sora how you feel now, right?"

Flushing and looking away from her, I gave the reply, "Well, I have to tell him eventually, right?"

"Of course!" She smiled in reply, but gave a slight frown as she continued, "But the real question is, how _soon_ are you gonna tell him?"

Biting my lip in frustration, I answered, "Don't rush me, okay?"

"Rush you about what?" Sora's voice came from behind me and caused me to jump.

"Wah! It-it's nothing, really!" I turned to him and laughed nervously in reply.

"Okaaay…" Sora raised an eyebrow at me, but he did not ask any more questions.

Glancing between us and noticing the awkward silence, Selphie exclaimed "Tell him your good news, Kairi!"

"Wha? Oh yeah! I'm not betrothed to Riku!" I beamed. I would never get tired of saying those words.

"Are you definitely sure they weren't lying to you?" Sora asked with a concerned expression, and he was right to worry. If I was him, I would sure be suspicious of my parents too, especially after the way they have treated me my whole life.

Nodding, I gave my mother's explanation, "Yeah, the only reason I was betrothed to Riku was because he was rich, but his family went into debt so they called it off. I'm so glad they did."

Laughing, Selphie stated, "Good birthday present from them, huh?"

"The best I could ever ask for." I nodded, laughing too.

"Hey, look," Sora pointed up to the gray sky, "It's snowing!"

"Huh?" Me and Selphie looked upwards, spotting the barely visible white flakes. "Wow," I said breathlessly.

"Hey Kairi, you cold?" Hearing Sora's question, I suddenly remembered I was wearing short sleeves and blushed.

"Um, no, I'm fine. Thanks anyway." I waved him off, laughing nervously. I truly did not get myself. I wanted his attention and yet when he was trying to give it to me, I pushed it away.

He asked again with a worried expression, "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." I nodded, wishing that I could hide the blush on my cheeks. It was not too long after his offer my teeth started chattering. '_Stop, please…_' I pleaded helplessly to my body to stop shivering, but to no avail. Sora then took off his jacket and forced it into my arms.

"Oh! It's okay really, I'm fi-" I started to exclaim, but quickly shut my mouth. It was stupid to even try and deny that I was not cold.

Shaking his head and laughing, Sora ordered, "Just put it on, Kairi. It's obvious you're freezing."

"…Okay." I looked down, the color red dominant upon my face and slipped on his jacket, "Um, thanks."

"Your wel-" I blinked and half of Sora's head was suddenly covered in snow; Selphie laughing.

"You're gonna pay for that one, Selphie." Sora smirked and bent down, picking up some snow and hurling it at Selphie.

She gave a small squeak, barely dodging it. She then began to pack together another snowball. "Okay, then. Take this!" Selphie laughed, throwing it at Sora.

"Gah!" Sora pulled me in front of him, so that I would be hit by Selphie's snowball and not him; and I accomplished his purpose. Turning my head around to face him, I exclaimed, "Hey, I'm not your shield!"

"Sorry." Sora laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Just for that," I smirked and scooped up some snow, "Take this!" I threw the snowball right at his head, but he just stepped aside and let it hit the ground.

Staring down at the failed snowball, he laughed as he commented, "Nice try."

Realizing I had been gone for at least thirty minutes, I began, "Well, guys, I guess I should get home. My parents think I'm on a walk, so I should probably be heading back."

"Guess you're right." Selphie brushed the snow off of her and started walking towards her own house, "Bye!" She waved and ran inside.

He did not make a suggestion or ask, but I automatically assumed Sora was going to walk me home once I started walking away and he followed. Reaching my front door, I turned back to him and said, "Well, I guess, see you tomorrow, Sora."

"Um, wait. I have to give you something," Sora gave a sheepish smile before he began to dig through his pockets.

"Huh?" I questioned with a confused stare towards the boy.

"It's your birthday, remember?" Sora replied and pulled a box out of his pocket, handing it to me. My face began to flush as I slowly opened the box, trying to avoid looking at Sora's eyes.

"Wow…" I was breathless as I stared at the necklace in awe. It had a sterling silver chain with a sapphire charm; simple, but beautiful. "How much did you pay for this?" I blurted out in surprise.

Sporting a grin, he answered, "That's for me to know, and you to never find out."

"Sora…thank you." I hugged him lightly in appreciation.

"It was nothing," Sora smiled sheepishly as he replied, finishing, "Guess I should head home."

"Bye…" My voice was quiet, almost a whisper. But he did not leave, instead he leaned his head forward; inches then millimeters away from my own. '_Close your eyes, stupid!_' My mind shouted at me, and I quickly complied; feeling Sora's lips brush against my own for a few short, sweet seconds. I unfortunately was not quick enough to kiss him back before he broke away.

"See you tomorrow." Sora grinned and walked away without saying another word.

"Did he just…" I blinked and touched my lips in wonder, "Did that really just happen?" Allowing a few more minutes for me to daze, I laughed to myself quietly and walked inside.

"You seem pretty happy, Kairi." My mom gave a smile as I walked into the house. I did not even find this behavior strange anymore, I openly welcomed it.

"I just love snow!" I giggled. My parents just looked at each other and shrugged at my jubilant behavior. "Well, I'm gonna go on the internet," I stated, starting to walk up the stairs.

"Okay!" I heard my Mom call from the kitchen. I waited for my computer to load, being its usual slow self it took a couple of minutes, and I quickly clicked AIM.

_--_

_HeArToFdEsTiNy14: omg Selph_

_SoCanDySwEEt7: what_

_HeArToFdEsTiNy14: sora _kissed _me!!_

_SoCanDySwEEt7: OMG!! I _knew_ I shouldve spied on you two_

_HeArToFdEsTiNy14: you spy on us?_

_SoCanDySwEEt7: yeah, because you 2 liked each other for so long and it was so obvious but neither of you would just come out and say it_

_HeArToFdEsTiNy14: well…I guess thats true…_

_SoCanDySwEEt7: g2g see you 2 lovebirds tomorrow_

_HeArToFdEsTiNy14: _BYE, _selphie_

--

I sighed happily, turning off the computer because no one else was on. "Hopefully they cancel school tomorrow. I won't have to see Riku _and_ I get to spend the whole day with Sora and Selphie." I thought out loud and plopped myself down on my bed. "Sora…" I sighed dreamily before I finally fell asleep.

XXX

I slowly opened my eyes, glancing around my room. I closed my eyes again but quickly re-opened them remembering the snow. "Please let there be like 5 inches of snow…" I said to myself as I pulled the string on the blinds. Seeing a white horizon, I squeaked out, "Yes!" Quickly changing into warm clothes, I dashed down the stairs.

"School's canceled if you haven't figured out that yet," Dad glanced away from the TV for a slight moment to speak to me then looked back at it.

"Yeah, I guessed that much. I'm gonna go outside, okay?" I stated, but paused before continuing out the door. I blinked, wondering if he would say yes. Out of my parents, Dad was always the more strict one.

"Yeah, sure." He waved towards the door.

"Thank you!" I squeaked and ran out the door. Making it a few feet from my house, I hugged myself and commented, "It's colder than I thought…"

"Hey Kairi." I heard Sora's voice behind me and jumped slightly.

Laughing nervously, I whirled around to greet him, stuttering at first, "So-Sora! Hi…"

"So, uh, where's Selphie?" He stared up at the sky as if he was watching it snow, but I knew he was trying to avoid looking me in the eyes.

"She probably won't be up for awhile, you know her." I laughed at Selphie's laziness. She was so perky and yet it took her hours to wake up when she was given the chance to sleep in.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He caught glance of my face and immediately started to blush. After a moment of silence passed by, he began, "Listen, sorry if I surprised you yesterday," He looked towards the ground again and shoved his hands in his coat pockets, continuing, "It's just, I've always liked you as more than just a friend. The truth is, I-I love you, Kairi."

Inching toward him, placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning downward to look him in the eyes, I answered, "I love you too, Sora."

His expression automatically reversed itself. First wrapping his arms around me, he locked me in a tight hug for a few minutes before leaning in for another kiss; this time actually allowing me a chance to kiss him back. It was not to long before we were interrupted.

"So this is what you guys do when I'm not here." We both broke away, looking to Selphie with widened eyes.

"S-Selphie!" I yelled out her name in surprise, turning a shade of scarlet.

"Yup!" Selphie smirked as she replied, but suddenly frowned, "Aw…now I have no one to play match maker for." We only laughed; she did not really do anything to help us get together. "So, what shall we do today?" Selphie then asked as if everything was absolutely the same.

"I dunno." Sora shrugged, then put his hands behind his head.

"Wanna come to my house and watch movies?" Selphie suggested with a shrug.

"Okay," I sighed. There was not much else to do, at least now that Selphie was there. Laughing and linking arms with her, I asked, "Shall we go then?"

"We shall." Selphie replied, heading forward and dragging me with her until I matched her pace.

"So what are you planning for us to watch, Selphie?" I asked curiously as Selphie unlocked the front door.

"The Grudge," Selphie smirked at how my face fell. It may not have been as awkward as watching a chick flick with Sora, but it was still pretty close. I was probably going to latch on to him sometime during the movie and embarrass myself.

"Isn't that suppose to be that weird scary movie?" Sora asked as he racked his brain to remember a trailer for it.

"Yup," Selphie still smirked as she put the DVD in the player. Glancing back at me and seeing that I was still standing, she commented, "You can sit down, you know."

"Huh? Oh yeah, right, sorry." I smiled apologetically and fell back on the couch next to Sora, Selphie then taking the spot on the other side of me. '_See, everything's just like normal. Nothing to worry about._' I tried to convince myself. Five minutes into the movie, I had jumped from a loud sound effect and latched myself on to Sora, just as I expected, causing quite the amusement for the other two.

"Man, you get scared really easily, huh?" Sora asked in a laugh, and I replied with a nod, biting my lip. "That's okay, girls get scared during movies all the time," Sora laughed but a loud sound effect caused him to flinch and towards back towards the screen, "Gah,"

"Just girls, huh?" I asked, squinting my eyes at him and crossing my arms.

"Guess not, sorry." Sora smiled apologetically, embarrassed.

"It's okay." I laughed. After a few minutes of debating with myself, I finally decided I could lay my head on his shoulder. I mean, we kissed, we were going out now, right? There was no problem with it except for the fact that I happened to be so shy. It made me feel better when Sora himself looked surprised for a moment before tilting his head against mine. It was the simplest of gestures, but it made me happy beyond words.


	6. On My Own

**Hmmm. The quality of writing in these chapters keep getting better and better; less editing for me, yay. Lemme tell you how amazing ipods/mp3 players in general are. They are my absolute love during writing and in this case editing. I think I would lose my mind without it. I like absolutely cannot just do one thing at a time for some reason lol so having music is my savior.**

**Here's a typo that I made re-typing this, thank god I noticed it:**

"_Reaaally good, or just really good?" He stuck his tongue out of me, _

**Sorry if you don't find perverted jokes funny; I just found that really amusing & wanted to share it with all of you XD.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or The Ring Two. I ALSO don't own Premonitions by Jude Watson.**

Shattered Dreams: Chapter Six.

XXX

"Kairi, get up! You have school today!" I heard my mom yell from downstairs. Groaning, I pulled off the covers and attempted to sit up, but quickly fell back down.

"School.Oh, fun." I commented sarcastically before giving a glance to the alarm clock. "Eight _ten_?" I exclaimed looking at it in disbelief, "Oh no! I'm gonna be so late!" I ran over to my closet, throwing on the first things I could find; A dark purple sweater and faded jeans. "Gotta hurry, gotta hurry…" I repeated to myself as I combed through my hair as fast as I could before running out of my bedroom, hastily grabbing my backpack and a jacket.

"Sorry, no time for breakfast!" I yelled as I dashed down the stairs and out the door, throwing my jacket on myself. Shaking my head and sighing at myself I then started running in the direction of my school.

"Kairi!" I heard Riku's deep voice call out as I ran past him.

"Leave me alone! You don't have a reason to bother me anymore!" I yelled out, picking up my pace. One reason, I just wanted to get on school on time. Second reason, I _really_ don't want to be even within a _mile _of Riku; especially now that I do not have to be.

XXX

"H-Hi, Sel-phie…Sor-ah." I greeted in heavy panting, earning a stare from them both.

Tilting her head, Selphie asked curiously, "Whoa, what were you running so fast for?"

"Here, sit down and rest," Sora added, placing a hand on my back and easing me towards the nearest bench, "even if it is only for a couple of minutes."

"Okay," I nodded tiredly, practically collapsing onto bench once we reached it, Sora taking the place next to me.

"...So?" Selphie began her questioning again.

"Wha? Oh, right. What I was running for. First reason, I was really late. Second, I saw my ex-betrothed on the way here." I replied with a roll of my eyes and a slight chuckle. The word _betrothed_ finally sounded old and worn, as it should.

"He hasn't stopped bothering you?" The younger girl furrowed her brow.

"Yeah. He can't give up, I guess." I sighed again before continuing, "but I don't even see why he's still bugging me. He should just annoy one of those girls that follow him around constantly. I mean, _they _like him, _I_ don't. So why does he even bother with me?"

Expecting an answer from Selphie or simply no answer at all, it suprised me when Sora spoke, "I think I know."

"Huh?" I turned to him, "What do you mean?"

"Well, Riku's really 'popular' so if people found out that we were going out, then they would like pass around stuff throughout the school saying Riku lost his girlfriend to a unknown geek," I frowned at his naming of himself, but he only shrugged and grinned, adding, " Or that he can't even get a girl that no one else would ask out."

I raised an eyebrow at this; he taking a minute before he figured out what he just said. Blushing, he exclaimed, "Oh, I'm so sorry! I was just saying that's what they would say. I would never say anything like that about you,"

Laughing at his mistake, I laughed cheerily and hugged him, "Thanks,"

"No problem." Sora replied grinning before giving a short, quick peck on the lips; causing various other people around us to begin whispering.

Looking around, Selphie rolled her eyes, "Oh, God. They act like they've never seen a couple before."

_Couple_. The word made me feel giddy and I wanted to burst into a fit of giggles, but I quickly supressed the urge. Simply shrugging, I replied, "It's just the way people are."

"Yeah, I guess I can't say I'm not." She grinned, opening her mouth to say something else before the bell cut her off, so instead she exclaimed, "Gah! Homeroom, bye guys!" Selphie ran into the school, tossing her backpack over her shoulder.

First pulling himself up off the bench, Sora stood up and held his hand out to me. "Um, thanks," I laughed as I grabbed his hand, he then gently pulling me up. I expected him to let go as soon as he pulled me up, but he did not. I was going to have to get use to this whole girlfriends treatment. The whole way to our homerooms, I did not even look at Sora because I was to busy staring at the ground to hide the blush upon my face, especially since I could just feel his eyes on me.

"See you next period." Sora said quietly, slowly letting my hand slip out of his.

"Yeah," I replied smiling with a small wave, watching him walk away.

"Ms. Yoshida, sorry to interrupt your day dreaming about Mr. Kimura, but it's time for class." I heard the harsh voice of my teacher come from behind me.

"Um, yeah, sorry." I laughed nervously, scratching the back of my head as I walked into the classroom. I could hear everyone snickering at me as I walked to my desk. The only response I made was rolling my eyes and sending them icy glares, not wanting to get in any more trouble with our teacher, Mrs. Spence. I hastily opened my book, Premonitions by Jude Watson, closing out everyone else around me. The first period bell finally rang after about fifteen minutes of morning announcements.

"Hi Kai!" Selphie's excited voice greeted me the moment I walked out of my homeroom.

"Hi." I responded with a small smile as I turned in the direction of our class, theatre. It was the only class Selphie, Sora, and I all had together because of Selphie's one year age difference. However, I had two other classes with Sora; English and History. The only down point of theatre was that Riku was also in that class.

Selphie tapped a finger against her lips as she thought outloud, "Wonder what we're doing today,"

"Who knows," I shrugged. Theatre always had something different going on every day, and I liked that about it. Walking into the room, we saw everyone sitting down on the floor; talking. Two words automatically ran through our minds: free day. You see, our teacher was not only a theatre teacher but an English teacher so occasionally she just needed a day to catch up with grading her papers, giving us a whole period to do whatever we wanted. Well, _almost_ whatever we wanted.

"Yay!" I exclaimed cheerfully, quickly headed towards the spot where we usually sat, unnofficially claimed as ours. The bell rang, and neither Sora nor Riku were there; which definitely wasn't a good sign.

"Selphie...Sora's not here, and neither is Riku." I pointed out shakily.

"Maybe Riku went home earlier and Sora couldn't get his locker open…or vice versa." Selphie suggested in an attempt to comfort me, but I had seen both of them this morning and neither one looked like they were sick or were not feeling well.

"Somehow I really doubt that…" I sighed, jumping when I heard the classroom door open.

"Sorry, couldn't get my locker open," Riku said to the teacher as he entered the classroom; but I knew different. He had a sickening smirk on his face, which could only mean one thing; he did something to Sora.

To my relief, the brunette came in a couple minutes later. "Uh, my locker was broke and I sorta…cut myself." Sora said loudly to the teacher, giving a side glare to Riku who's smirk only widened. Mrs. Mattox simply nodding, he made his way over to Selphie and me.

Seeing his mouth open to began an explaination, I commented, "Riku did this. I know."

"Of course," Sora muttered, glancing down to his arm, "He said next time it'll be my throat."

"You should of reported him! I mean, you have lots of proof. He slit your and Kairi's arms!" Selphie whispered loudly in outrage, glancing between Riku and Sora.

Shaking my head and sighing, I answered her, "It's a nice idea, but he probably would have found a way to get out of it."

"I guess you're right," Selphie sighed too, continuing, "but what he's doing isn't right."

"But there's nothing we can do about it; at least not right now." Sora stated with a sigh, leaning his back against the bookcase behind him.

Giving him a questioning stare, Selphie tilted her head, "Whaddya mean?"

"We need to have the proof recorded or something. If we just use our cuts as proof, Riku will just say that we probably cut ourselves to get him blamed or something along those lines." Sora answered as he poked at the bandage on his arm, pulling on loose piece of material.

"Yeah," I nodded, watching him continue to mess with his bandage for a few more minutes before finally adding, "Sora, stop doing that."

Looking up at me, he whined, "Okay, okay." Staring at me for a minute in thought, he then wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me towards him, asking, "How much longer do we have of this class?"

"Dunno." I giggled slightly at his sudden enthusiasm.

Selphie smirked to as she inquired, "Why?"

"No reason." He gave her an innocent smile in return.

Squinting her eyes for a moment as if to say 'You're weird', she then turned to the clock and answered his question, "Fifteen minutes."

"Eh, I guess I missed more of the class than I thought." Sora laughed slightly, running his free hand through his bangs.

"Well you missed like fifteen minutes and we just talked for fifteen. The class is only forty-five minutes long, so that's why it seems so short." Selphie answered in a bored tone, yawning after she finished her sentence.

"Guess so." I responded, closing my eyes and inhaling deeply. Opening my eyes again to see Riku facing away from his group and glaring at us. I elbowed Sora slightly and the moment he saw Riku, he glared right back. Riku, looking slightly shocked, turned back around.

Letting out a small laugh, Selphie hit him on his shoulder and exclaimed, "Wow, Sora! You scared Riku!"

"Ow, Selphie! Geez," Sora laughed, rubbing his shoulder where she hit him, even though it probably actually did not hurt him.

Letting out a laugh myself, I glanced to the clock again and stated, "Well, enough messing around guys. We should get our stuff, the bell's gonna ring in like two seconds."

"One…two…nope, no bell." Sora smirked at his own comment as he stood up.

Rolling my eyes and picking up my binder, I replied, "Oh, c'mon Sora. You know I was exaggerating."

"Yeah, I know." Sora grinned, putting his hands behind his head. The bell suddenly rang throughout the school, making me jump; even though I had been hearing it for countless years now, it still managed to surprise me.

"Gah! Stupid bell…Bye, guys!" Selphie quickly picked up her stuff and started towards the opposite end of the hallway.

"See you next period." Sora winked at me before turning in his own direction.

Blushing and looking down at my feet, I stuttered, "Y-yeah." Hearing me, he gave a light chuckle from down the hallway. "I'm probably not gonna be able to focus during math now…" I laughed to myself as I walked into the classroom.

XXX

Even though I _did_ daydream like the whole period, it still went by _extremely_ slow. "C'mon stupid bell…" I muttered to myself.

"What was that, Kairi?" I looked up; my teacher of course had to be standing right there when I said that.

"Um, nothing. I was just trying to figure out a problem. And I remember how to do it now!" I laughed nervously, beginning to scratch down random numbers with my pencil. Convenient that this class happened to be math.

"Okay…" My teacher walked away, staring at me like I was loosing my mind. I laughed under my breath and waited for the class to end. The bell finally rang a couple minutes after that, allowing me to escape from my class. I quickly walked into the social studies classroom, only a couple feet away, and jammed my stuff into my desk. I opened my book again since Sora was not there yet. Besides, there was not really anyone that talked to me much in this class, so there was nothing better to do.

"Boo." Sora said loudly from behind me, pulling me back into reality.

"Very funny, Sora." I smiled as I closed my book, craning my neck around to face him.

"Yeah, I know I am." Sora smirked, bowing slightly, then sitting down at the desk next to me. Ms. Wilson, our teacher, let us choose our seats at the beginning of the year and surprisingly she had not changed them yet.

"So, do you know what we're supposed to do in this class today?" I asked, frowning at the thought of another essay. We had to write essays a_ lot _in this class.

Leaning back in his chair in thought, he answered, "I think Carson said we're supposed to watch a movie."

"Yes, we're watching a movie," Ms. Wilson suddenly appeared in the doorway, causing everyone to turn their head, "It's called the Forbidden City…it's about China for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about." Ms. Wilson laughed, turning out the lights and pressing the play button on the VCR.

During the middle of the movie Sora's tilted chair finally decided to betray him, causing him to fall backwards on to the floor with a large 'boom!'.

Automatically kneeling by his side, I asked worriedly, "Are you okay, Sora?"

"Yeah, dude, you okay?" Justin bent over his desk slightly to see if Sora was okay. By the look on his face, I could tell he was trying really hard not to laugh.

"Yeah, I 'm fine." Sora smiled sheepishly as he sat up, rubbing his sore head.

"Here." I held out my hand to him.

Taking it, he laughed as I pulled him up, "Thanks." Then he towards the front of the classroom to add, "Sorry 'bout that…" Sora apologized to Ms. Wilson, even though she wasn't really paying attention. Noticing no sign of comprehension, he muttered to himself, "Okay, never mind then…" I laughed quietly at his misfortune. Sora then sat down again, digging out a pencil and paper from his binder, scribbling down something. I blinked, staring at him curiously but did not say anything until he handed it to me.

"Wha?" I said a little louder than I had wanted to, causing me to quickly clamp my hands over my mouth.. Sora mouthed 'read it' and I nodded, slowly unfolding the paper then reading Sora's messy hand writing.

'_Uh, do you wanna go to the movies or something on Friday? I mean, if you want to. You don't have to if you don't want to.'_

I quickly searched through my binder for a pencil or pen, writing in response:

'_Of course I want to! What movie?' _

I handed the paper back to Sora who gave an obvious smile as he read my response. He picked up his pencil again and handed the paper back to me.

'_Dunno. Anything you wanna see?' _

'_Um…how 'bout The Ring Two?' _

'_Okay. Pick you up at 8?' _

"Perfect." I answered aloud with a wide smiling to him and receiving one in return.

I could not believe I was actually going on a date with _Sora._ I mean, I had been on dates before, but they were not by free will, and to make it worse, with Riku. So this was going to be a whole new experience to me.

XXX

"I'm so nervous!" I exclaimed to Selphie on the phone as I combed through my hair continuously, wanting it to be perfect.

"Why? You've got nothing to worry about. You and Sora have known each other like forever, so if you like say something really stupid, he'll just laugh and think nothing of it." I could just picture Selphie rolling her eyes.

"I know, I know. But still…" I whined into the phone, frowning at myself in the mirror because my hair was too frizzy for my liking.

Selphie laughed, "Yeah, I know how you feel…"

"How?" I questioned, mirroring her laugh.

"Well-I…It's just an expression, you know. I can _guess_ how you feel." She sighed into the phone.

"I figured that," I smiled to myself, sitting down on my bed. Of course, as soon as I did the doorbell rang and made me jump right back up. "Uh, gotta go Selphie. I think Sora's here…" I paced back and forth nervously, fidgeting with my hair again.

"Kay. Have fun! Bye!" Selphie chirped.

"Yeah, bye," I responded quickly before hanging up and racing downstairs.

"Sorry…I was talking on the phone with Selphie and I kinda lost track of time," I laughed nervously, apologizing as I opened the door for Sora.

"Heh, it's okay." Sora then blushed and looked down at his feet, "You look beautiful,"

"Tha-thanks…" I responded, stuttering nervously, probably scarlet by now. The sad part is I had to look down at what I was wearing to remember what it was. A tight fitting white blouse with jeans. It was not much, but hey, if Sora thought it looked good that was all I needed.

A light shade of red himself, he started, "So, uh. Shall we go, then?" .

"Yeah." I turned around, locking the door.

"Think it'll be scary?" He teased as he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him as we began on our way.

"Not really," I laid my head lightly on his shoulder, "The first one was more of a suspense movie."

A smirk forming on his lips, the brunette asked, "You're not just saying that to make up for jumping during the Grudge, are you?"

Laughing, I replied, "No. And, hey, you jumped too; you can't be talking."

"Eh, okay. You win." He replied with a slight shrug.

"Yay." I giggled.

XXX

"May I help you?" The ticket booth person inquired as we reached the front of the theater.

"Uh, two for The Ring Two…" Sora said, pulling out his wallet and handing her a twenty dollar bill.

"Here," She handed Sora the tickets and his change, "Enjoy your movie!"

"Yeah, thanks." Sora responded as we started walking away and into the lobby.

Biting my lip and staring at him, I trailed off, "I could have paid, you know…"

"Nah, it's okay." Sora swiftly avoided the conversation by changing the subject, asking, "You want anything to eat?"

I shook my head, "Just ate dinner. Besides, Samara's face is like really messed up looking in the movie and I don't wanna like, throw up." I laughed as I finished.

"Heh, good point." He gave an amused grin, turning to the hall our theater was in.

"Ooh, front row!" I called out as I ran into the theater labeled The Ring Two, dragging Sora behind me.

Laughing a bit, he commented, "Geez, Kairi."

"What? The first movie was really good and this one's probably gonna be _reaaally_ good." I nodded in enthusiasm, picking a seat and sitting down.

"What's the difference between really good and _reaaally_ good?" Sora smirked as he imitated my words, falling back into the chair next to me.

I shoved him playfully in the shoulder, "Oh, c'mon! You know what I mean."

"No, not really." Sora shook his head, with a wide grin and a chuckle. All of a sudden the music cut off, the lights went dim, and the green preview screen appeared.

"Oh, never mind." I laughed, laying my head on his shoulder again. The other good thing about front row seats is that the arms of the chairs could be put up, so there was nothing in between the two of us. After taking in a breath of air which was filled with Sora's scent, I commented, "You smell like cinnamon."

He laughed, "Is that a good thing?"

Inhaling again, I nodded, "I like it."

Turning his head back to the screen, he replied, "I'll try and remember that."

"I wanna show you something…" The high school student in the beginning of the movie's voice rang out, directing my attention back to the screen.

"Oh yeah…the movie…" I laughed to myself, feeling really stupid. Of course it did not help at all that all through out the movie I found myself flinching at the parts when Samara suddenly popped out of nowhere. Sora jumped a few times himself, but I still felt embarrassed when it was me.

"Aiden, do me a favor, okay?" Rachel asked her son, in the movie.

"Yeah?" Aiden responded.

"Just call me Rachel…for awhile, anyway." Rachel laughed and they hugged; the ending credits following the fade out of that scene.

"Scary?" Sora asked again.

I shook my head, answering, "Nah. It was still really good, though."

"_Reaaally_ good, or just really good?" He stuck his tongue out at me, jumping up out of his seat and heading towards the exit.

"_Sora!"_ I exclaimed, jumping up and catching up with him to give him a playful shove.

"No, seriously. Answer." He turned back to me with a serious face. Or at least somewhat serious; I could still see the small smile on his face.

"Hmm…_reaaally_ good, 'cause I saw it with you." I replied with a smile, knowing that was the answer he was looking for.

Giving a wide grin and taking a step closer to me, he added, "Same."

"Hmm…I guess I should go home now." I gave a saddened sigh, never wanting to leave Sora's side.

"Yeah, I guess so." He sighed too, but smiled again as he grabbed my hand, adding, "but we can still at least enjoy the walk home too."

Beginning to walk, I nodded eagerly, "Yeah!"

XXX

"Um, goodnight…" I turned to him with a small smile as we reached my door. Sora leaned forward, wrapping both his arms around me, his lips gently brushing against mine. I let go of everything that was bad that happened to me at that moment. I wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him back; not caring who saw, or what the consequences were afterwards.

Sora broke away gently, saying, "Uh, I probably need to get home before Mom kills me." He laughed, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, I probably need to go in too. Night," I waved as I turned the key in the door.

"Night." He waved back and turned around, starting to walk away. I slowly creaked open the front door, revealing complete darkness.

"Mom…?" I flipped on the light switch and screamed at my parents corpses lying on the ground, surrounded in crimson liquid.


	7. Going Under

**Only three more chapters till I'm done with Part One/Kairi's POV, yay! One, all my writing's horrible in part 1; well, most of it anyway. Two, I just love Sora-kun to death haha.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or Jansport backpacks Oo; .**

Shattered Dreams: Chapter Seven

XXX

"Kairi? What happ-" Sora skidded into the room, eyes widening as he glanced at the floor, "Oh my _god_." Placing his hands on my shoulders and easing me towards the door, he stated shakily, "Uh, lets go outside or something…Go ahead, I'll get the phone and call 911..." He was obviously scared out of mind like me. But while he could not take his eyes of their bodies, I could not even find the power to look at them at all.

"I…can't…" I gulped, unable to open my eyes or even breathe.

"Sorry, I'm not thinking right…" Sora grabbed the cordless phone from the corner of the counter, taking my hand, and rushing us outside. "Kairi…do you think you could call them? I just-I can't think of what to say…" Sora was pacing back and forth, freaking out.

"Um, yeah. I-I guess I can." I took the phone and slowly dialed the three numbers. I jumped when I heard the receptionist answer the phone, "U-um…I just got home and…found my parents…d-dead…" I stuttered. She respond saying that the police were coming.

"They're coming?" Sora asked as I hung up the phone.

"…Yeah." I wiped the newly formed tears that were starting fall on my sleeve, saying, "You know, even though they were really bad to me, I just can't believe this happened…I mean, they were finally starting to learn how to treat me right…and _I_ was learning what it was like to have _real_ parents…and then this happens…" I wiped my eyes again, "I guess that's just how my life is though, something always has to go wrong…"

Sora cut off my negativity with his exclamation, "Kairi, that's not true! Just because one thing goes wrong, doesn't mean everything will. I was taught a long time ago that whenever something really bad happens, it means something great is coming." Sora smiled slightly despite the situation, staring up at the star-filled sky.

I looked up too, thinking, '_The sky is way too beautiful for a night like this…even though it was the best night of my life until I got home.'_

"Who taught you that, anyways?" I asked out of curiosity, sniffling a bit.

"Well, you might wanna sit down. That is, unless you want to faint and fall backwards onto the concrete." He gave a quiet laugh as he turned his head back to me.

I blinked, "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, Riku told me that."

"_What!?_" I yelled out in surprise.

"We used to be friends in first grade. The next year though, we just didn't really get along…" He bit his lip as he flipped through images of memories in his mind.

"I don't see how Riku could have thought of something like that…" I was astounded that Sora and _Riku _had once been friends. What could have possibly made that drastic change to make Riku what _I_ knew?

"He wasn't always like he is now. He used to be a really deep thinker…I don't really know what happened." Sora shrugged, putting his hands behind his head.

"Hmm…" I sighed tapping my fingers, "Shouldn't they of gotten here by now…?" As if in response, the screaming of the sirens suddenly over-ruled every other sound in the neighborhood.

"Does that answer your question?" Sora tried to yell over the sirens, as he got up.

"Yeah!" I stood up, trying to plug my ears so I couldn't hear the deafening screaming of the sirens…I wasn't really in the mood to be interrogated either, come to think of it. My emotions were really screwed up right now. I was, sad, happy, frustrated, calm, and confused all at once, if that was even humanly possible.

XXX

"Do you know where you're gonna stay?" Sora asked me as the police were leaving.

I shrugged, "Selphie's I guess. But, could I go to your house for tonight? It's really late, and I'd feel safer there than anywhere else…" I added the last part looking down at my feet to hide the obvious blushing.

"Of course." He answered, taking my hand and leading me to his house. "Be prepared…" He warned as he unlocked the door and slowly turned the doorknob.

"Huh?" I blinked, then figured out what he meant as soon as he got the door fully opened.

"What happened?" Sora's mom's worried sounded, she was so worried that she practically threw us both inside.

"Um…Kairi's parents were…" Sora trailed off, unable to finish.

"…Murdered." I finished.

"Oh my god, Kairi, you poor baby!" Sora's mom practically threw herself around me, "You of course know you're welcome here for as long as you like, and if there's anything I can do to help you, tell me, okay?"

"Um…Yeah, okay." I responded, practically choking due to the fact she was squeezing me so tightly. I took a deep breath as quietly as I could as soon as she let go. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed, but wake me up if you need something!" She ordered before she started walking back up the stairs.

"Um, are you gonna go upstairs, too?" I turned away from the empty staircase to Sora.

Sora shook his head, "Nope."

"Wha?" I blinked.

"I'm too worried about you."

I laughed slightly as I sat down; he was truly the master of lines, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine…"

"I'll still be up all night though," He trailed off, falling backwards onto the couch beside me.

"Um, thanks." I answered, laughing nervously; I did not have a clue what else to say.

He apparently did not know what to say either. "Uh…Okay." He laughed in response.

"Hmm…" I tilted my head back, staring at the ceiling for a spilt second before closing my eyes.

"You okay?" Sora asked, brushing some of my hair away from my face and behind my eyes, causing me to shiver involuntarily.

"Um, I guess. For just loosing my parents…Guess I seem pretty horrible for not even crying that much about it, huh?" I sighed, giving him a distressed look.

"Of course not." Sora pulled me into a tight embrace.

"…Sora?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah?" He responded, not loosening his hold on me.

"Are _you_ okay?" I asked him, giving a small laugh.

"As long as I'm with you." He whispered back. The only response I made was smiling before I slowly drifted off to sleep.

XXX

I woke up and blushed, noticing neither of us had broken the embrace. Sora had either very gently moved me or I woke up and did not remember switching positions. I tried to gently pull myself up, but that definitely was not going to work because Sora had a death grip on me and he was much stronger than I was. Actually, mostly everyone was stronger than me, but that is not important.

'_I wonder what Sora's mom would think if she saw us…'_ My cheeks turned a darker shade of red as the thought ran through my mind. I tried to pry Sora's arms off me, which I never thought I would ever want to do, but failed.

"Um…Sora?" I asked loudly, slightly pushing against him.

"…Wha?" Sora asked groggily, starting to open his eyes.

"Could you, uh, let go of me…?" I gave a nervous laugh.

"Gah!" Sora blushed, quickly taking his arms from around me and stuffing his hands in his pockets as he sat up, "Sorry!"

"Heh. It's okay." I gave a smile to show him that I was not uncomfortable, which I assumed that was what he was thinking by the way he reacted.

"Ah, good, you're up now, " I swear I could have jumped as high as the ceiling from hearing his mom's voice, "You two looked comfortable this morning."

I knew my face was probably scarlet by now, "Um…"

"_Mom_…" Sora said in a go-away-and-stop-embarrassing-me tone, blushing too. I can just imagine how amusing our tomato shaded faces were to his mother.

"Okay, fine, I'll go start breakfast then…" She walked into the kitchen smirking, turning back around to wink at us before she went out of sight, making my face darken again.

"Sorry about that," Sora smiled apologetically, "I don't know why she's like that."

I laughed, "It's okay. It's better than the way my parents would-" I looked down, guilt beginning to surface in my sapphire eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" Sora threw his hands up in an apologetic gesture.

"No, it's okay." I smiled weakly, "Technically I'm the one who said it, so it's my fault."

"Breakfast's ready!" Sora's mom called from the kitchen, saving me from anymore stupid breakdowns or embarrassments.

"Hey, Kairi, when do you want us to take you to Selphie's?" Sora asked as he grabbed a piece of golden-brown colored buttered toast from the pile on the counter and stuffing it into his mouth.

"Oh! Selphie's house is on the way to where we're going this afternoon, so we can just drop you off then." His mom answered him.

Sora raised an eyebrow, signifying that he forget, or she never told him about the trip, "And where's that?"

"Your cousin's, remember?" She answered again, turning to him for a second before going back to dish washing.

"…Yeah." Sora rolled his eyes and groaned under his breath.

"Okay, sounds fine to me." I responded, nibbling at the corner of the piece of toast.

"Okay, well I gotta go grocery shopping, so I'll be back in an hour or two." She brushed her long chocolate-colored bangs behind her ears, before kissing Sora on the forehead, making him groan again.

"Mom…" She just smiled at him and ruffled his hair before walking out the door.

I giggled at Sora's reaction to him mom. "C'mon Kairi, give me a break…" He gave an embarrassed smile.

"What if I don't want to?" I laughed still, his obvious embarrassment making it all the more amusing.

He replied with a small smirk, "I'll make you."

"How's that?" I asked curiously, starting to smirk too.

"Like this," He moved closer to me, and leaned forward. I closed my eyes, expecting him to kiss me, but he started _tickling_ me.

"Sor-_ahh_! S-stop!" I was laughing so hard my ribs hurt, "Okay, okay, you-win!

He immediately stopped as soon as I gave up, putting his hands behind his head, "Told ya."

"Told me, what?" I questioned, trying to sit up again; my stomach aching from the laughter.

"That I could make you give me a break." Sora still smirked as he ran his fingers through his spiked hair.

"Whatever." I laughed in response.

XXX

"Ready to go, Kairi?" Sora's mom turned back at me as she opened the door of her blue PT cruiser.

I nodded, "Yeah." I hastily opened the car door and jumped inside. I slammed it shut again and sighed to myself as I put on my seatbelt. Selphie was of course my best friend, and I loved staying with her, but I really did not want to leave Sora's house. '_But I guess I have to…_' I thought as I sighed, watching everything around me pass by.

"Hey, Kai, we're here." I heard Sora say barely above a whisper, tapping me on the shoulder.

"Huh?" I snapped out of my daze and looked outside the car window, "Oh. Right." I unbuckled my seatbelt, warily opened the car door (trying to avoid hitting Selphie's mom's car) and jumped out.

"Thanks for letting me stay the night." I said to Sora's mom as I walked up to her car window.

"Like I said last night, you're welcome any time you want, Honey." She gave me a reassuring smile.

"Thanks. Bye," I waved as they starting backing out of Selphie's drive way then walked to Selphie's front door.

"Hi, Kai," Selphie gave a nervous smile as she opened the door, "I'm sorry about your…" Selphie looked down at her feet.

"It's okay, Selph." I gave her a reassuring smile, "I know this may sound mean, but I'd rather forget about that." Selphie gave a small nod, her brunette hair bouncing as she did.

XXX

"Are you sure you want to go to school today, Kairi?" Selphie's mom stared at me, worry shining in her emerald eyes.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I answered as I picked up my purple Jansport backpack, which the police had to retrieve from my house.

"Okay, but if you don't feel good or if you're uncomfortable at school, call me, okay?" She continued to stare at me, waiting for my response.

I nodded, following Selphie out the door, "I will."

"If I were you, I would've stayed, just so I could miss school." Selphie laughed as she closed her front door.

I smiled, "Yeah, well, you're not me so, I'm going to school."

"You're kinda weird, ya know that?" Selphie joked, starting to walk down the road.

"Yup." I answered her statement truthfully, even though I knew she was joking. I am kinda weird, I have to admit. I laughed under my breath at myself.

"Um, Kairi, what are you gonna do when you see Riku at school?" Selphie bit down on her lip slightly as she asked. The thought of going to school with a murderer must be getting to her.

"I don't really know. I haven't thought about it…" I trailed off, biting my lip too. The rest of the walk to school was silent. I just stared down at the asphalt the whole say, zoning out from the rest of the world in my thoughts.

"Hey Kairi," I heard kind of static-y, thinking I was imagining it until I saw Sora's hand waving in my face, "Kairi? Hello?"

I smiled apologetically, "Hi. Sorry, zoned out."

"Hey, Sora." I heard a voice that sounded like Riku's, but yet it sounded different. It sounded…kinder.

"Why're you talking to _us_, Riku?" Selphie raised an eyebrow and gave him a small glare.

"Because Sora's the only one I know here…" Riku trailed off a bit, seeming a bit uncomfortable at the harsh looks that we were all giving him.

"What are you talking about?" I narrowed my eyes, knowing whatever he was about to say was a lie.

"Don't tell him I told you this…" Riku sighed, his aquamarine eyes looking as if they were full of anguish, "or he'll kill me, literally."

"Okay, continue." Sora stared at Riku, and something about Sora's facial expression told me that he was starting to believe him.

"Well, my twin brother, Ryou, has been pretending to be me since the second grade, while I've been at home, getting home-schooled." Riku started his explanation.

"So _that's_ why you acted so different!" Sora exclaimed, the puzzle pieces of memories starting to fit come together.

"Yeah," Riku nodded, looking around nervously before continuing his story, "So he's been the one doing everything, like slitting your arms and like totally stalking her," Riku pointed at me, "I don't know what his problem is, but he's definitely not right in the head…"

"Of course he isn't, he killed my parents!" I outburst, regretting it a little after it passed my lips.

"I know…" He looked down at his feet, "He always brags to me about things he's planning to do before he leaves…"

My anger began to rise. "So why haven't you told any one!" My parent's lives could have been saved, so many injuries could have been avoided just because this guy had been keeping all of the warnings to himself!

"After seeing what he's done to other people, do you seriously not know what he would do to me if I tried?" Riku looked up, his sliver bangs covering his eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't think…" I closed my eyes and tilted my head downward, embarrassed.

"Then maybe you should start." I heard the Riku's voice that I had known all these years before meeting the one that was standing before me. I could not even scream or react as Ryou pulled me back against him, his hand tightly around my jaw.


	8. The War is Over

**Hmm…I don't really remember what happens in this chapter lol. I guess I'll find out after editing. Two more chapters after this and I'm done for the night.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own KH.**

Shattered Dreams: Chapter Eight

XXX

"Let go of her!" Sora growled at Ryou, while Selphie glared, and Riku looked as if he was…scared?

"Aw, but I wanted to have a little fun with her first, " I felt myself being whirled around to face him. I quickly noticed he had dyed the tips of his silver hair jet black before I felt his lips and tongue on the side of my face.

"Stop…" I pleaded as I shut my eyes tightly and attempted to escape his grip, but I could feel his lips slowly moving closer to mine, "St—_Stop it!_"

"Ryou, stop! Don't you think you've done enough to her already?" I heard Riku yell out from the left side of me.

"Whatever," I felt myself being pushed into someone. Feeling arms immediately wrap around me, I knew it was Sora.

"I'll finish with you later," Ryou whispered into my ear and walked away with a twisted smile upon his lips.

Sora made a low growling noise before turning his head back to me, "Kairi, are you okay?"

That was a stupid question. Of course I wasn't _okay_. "No…No, I'm not okay." I let out a shaky sigh and removed myself from Sora's arms, "Selphie…Can you call your mom? I don't think I can handle staying here."

"Yeah, of course. C'mon," Selphie gave a weak smile, leading me into the school and into the nurse's office where the phone was. I let out another long shaky sigh, listening to Selphie's side of the conversation with her Mom. I noticed Sora standing just behind the doorway, leaning against the doorframe with a look of uncertainty in his eyes.

"Sora, what are you thinking about?" I almost squeaked as I asked my question, noticing him twitch at the sound of his name. He was not mad, was he? '_But, why would he be…?_' I asked myself mentally.

"Well…" He sighed, placing his left hand on his forehead, his fingers just barely going through his bangs, "I was thinking about what I should of done to help you instead of just standing there like an idiot."

"Sora it's okay, really…" I responded, deep inside knowing what I just said was not true.

"No, it's not, Kairi, and you know it." Sora replied, no tone in his voice; which really scared me. I opened my mouth to reply but quickly shut it, knowing he was right and it was pointless to argue. Just as I took a seat in one of the chairs of the nurses office, the home room bell's screech rang throughout the school and Selphie immediately slammed down the phone and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"I'll see you at home, Kairi," Selphie said softly before hurrying out the door.

Sora started to leave before I exclaimed, "Wait!…I know what happened was more than nothing, but I just…I just want to forget…"

"It seems like you want to forget a lot of things lately…" Sora replied quietly, tracing the lines in the wall with his index finger.

I bit my lip, "Aren't you suppose to forget about the bad things?"

"If you were suppose to, a lot of us would have barely any memory left." His normal tone returned, and he looked up at me.

"That makes sense but…" I sighed. I was obviously getting no where, "Can't you just forget _some_ things?"

A sigh escaped from Sora's lips, "I guess. But, you know, no matter how much you try to push it away, it'll always come back."

"I guess…I guess you're right." I let out another sigh, giving a grateful smile to my boyfriend, "Thanks, Sora."

"No problem. But, Kairi," Sora kneeled down and lifted my head with his index finger so that I would be looking at him directly in the eyes, "I know I've said this before, but I would do anything to protect you…_anything_…"

"Sora…" I smiled and closed my eyes, shaking my head as I said, "I don't see how I could ever go through a day without you."

Giving a small peck on the lips, he replied, "Same for me."

"…Sora how much of theatre have you missed by being here with me?"

Sora grinned sheepishly, "Like all of it."

"Oh, so that's why you stayed with me; to skip your classes." I joked as I crossed my arms.

Rolling his eyes, he answered sarcastically, "Of course, you caught me." Standing up and throwing his backpack over his shoulder, he leaned down to kiss my forehead, saying, "See you tomorrow then, I guess."

"Bye," I replied as he walked out into the main hallway of the school.

"Kairi!" I could hear Selphie's Mom exclaim from the front office as she ran into the room, "Oh, Kairi! I _knew_ you weren't ready to go back to school yet!"

"Um, yeah." I replied, not really knowing what to tell her.

"Well, come on, lets head back home…" She suggested, brushing a strand of hair that was in my face behind my ear, but she kept her hand placed on my forehead, "Whoa, Kairi, you're burning up! When we get home, you go strait to bed and I'll make you some soup or something to eat, okay?"

I nodded as I stood up, dragging my feet as we walked out of the school to her car. "Are you sure I have a fever?" I asked in doubt, feeling my forehead with my hand.

"Pretty sure." She replied, looking over to me for a moment.

"Great…" I sighed and remained in a daze the rest of the car ride.

Five minutes later as we pulled into the garage, she asked, "So, do you want me to start cooking your soup?"

"Um, no thanks. I don't really want to eat right now, just sleep." I answered as I jumped out from the car and slammed the door shut.

"You sure?" She asked me, staring with shimmering emerald eyes.

"Uh-huh." I nodded again as she opened the front door. I went straight for the stairs and up to the room that Selphie and her mom were letting me stay in. I scanned "my" room with tired eyes, taking in the plain white walls and the sunlight beaming in through the only window, directly behind the bed.

I plopped myself down on the bed and starred at the ceiling and muttered, "This room really needs some decoration…" I yawned and turned on my side. I turned over again, and repeated the process for a few minutes. I groaned before I finally sat up and leaned back against the wall.

"I don't even know how I thought I'd be able to sleep with everything that's happened today." I muttered as I tucked my bangs behead my ears. "Wish I had a radio…" I complained in a sigh. I glanced at the alarm clock sitting on my bedside table, the time being only ten thirty. I sighed as I laid down again, my eyes wandering back to the ceiling, "Ugh, I wish it was close to time for school to end…"

"Sora, Selphie, either of you would be great right about now." I yawned, not really tired but I still yawned anyway…well actually I was tired…I dunno really, I felt wide-awake, but my eyes wouldn't seem to stay open. Until finally it _was_ impossible to keep them open at all.

XXX

My eyes fluttered at the sound of voices speaking in a low tone around me. "Hey, look, I think she's up!" I heard Riku exclaim still in a low tone from across the room.

I sat up slightly, leaning against the bedpost and replied with a, "Yeah, I'm up."

"Hey, how you feelin'?" I heard Sora ask, suddenly at my side.

I gave a weak smile, "Not exactly perfect, but a whole lot better than earlier."

"Great! Let's go get ice cream or something!" Selphie exclaimed, jumping up out of the computer chair she had placed near the door.

"Ice cream? Its still winter, Selphie!" I laughed knowing that the season would not stop her.

"Yeah, plus Kairi's sick, remember? We really shouldn't make her walk around in the cold, that would make it worse." Sora added on to my comment. I had to smile realizing how much he cared about me.

"Aw, I guess you're right…but what can we do then?" Selphie sighed, her hyper-ness dying down for the moment.

"Watch a movie?" Sora suggested, shrugging, "Since it seems like we do that every time."

"I can't stay for much longer…I'm not even suppose to be here in the first place." Riku replied with a weak smile. He then slightly rolled up his sleeve to reveal various cuts and bruises, causing all of us to wince.

"Riku…" I trailed off, staring in disbelief.

"Guess we aren't that different, huh Kairi?" Riku laughed in a hollow tone.

"Whoa, not you too!" Selphie exclaimed in disbelief.

"Riku, I'm so sorry…" I started again, not really knowing what else to say.

With a weak smile, he replied, "There's nothing to be sorry about. It's not like you're the one beating me."

"I know, but my whole life I've always thought I was the only one who had to suffer like that. I've been so selfish…" I responded in a low tone my eyes starting to well with tears.

I felt Sora pull me closer to him until I felt my head on his chest, "Kairi, please don't cry."

"But that's one difference we do have. You've always had friends who love you more than anything to help you through it; I've had no one." Riku began to head for the door.

"Riku, wait!" I lifted my head and yelled out to make him turn around, "Don't forget, we're your friends and we're here for you."

"Thank you." Riku smiled before walking out the door.


	9. Shame On Me

**Oh great. A lot of Sora's sayings in this chapter came from my 'ex', including the "I don't wanna sound like a perv…but, I wanna sleep with you." God, that's so awkward now! Haha. But because the lines are so sweet, I can't take them away. Too bad for me, I guess.**

**Ah well, enjoy all of my memories that are awkward now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own KH or A Christmas Carol.**

Shattered Dreams: Chapter Nine

XXX

"Riku…" Sora sighed a moment after Riku had walked out of the door. I had to give a small smile, thinking of how they only knew each other for a year and then after being separated for so much a long time they still held a close bond.

"Well, I definitely don't know what to say anymore." Selphie laughed and gave a faint smile to the two of us.

"I don't think any of us do." Sora forced a laugh as he replied.

"Yeah, true." I nodded, laying my head on his shoulder. I was not really tired considering I just woke up from a five hour sleep, I just loved any excuse of being close to him now that I could be.

Selphie stood up, pushing the computer chair against the wall, asking, "Even though I know it seems a little wrong to say this, you guys still up for watching that movie?"

"Sure, but Selphie, can we watch it up here? I don't wanna move." I asked in a yawn, thinking after I finished, '_Way to be obvious, Kairi_.'

"Oh, _I_ see!" Selphie giggled with a smirk.

"I'm tired!" I exclaimed in protest, my face turning crimson as I looked down, knowing what ever she was thinking probably was not that far from the truth.

She grinned still, knowing that I was obviously lying, "Mhm. I'm sure. But yeah, we can watch it up here." Beginning to walk out the door, she asked, "Any choices?"

"Any one, Selphie. It's usually you who ends up choosing, any way." I replied with a small laugh. Maybe I could actually play off that my face was red from being sick, that was a thought.

"Neh. Fine, I'll be back." Selphie answered, crossing her arms in mock anger as she walked out of the room and down the stairs to the living room.

Seeing that the coast was clear, Sora crossed his arms with a smirk as he asked, "So, are you actually tired or is Selphie right?"

I turned a deeper shade of red, "…What do you think?"

Sora laughed at this, kissing me on the forehead, "I love you Kairi."

"I love you too, Sora." I muttered, still not looking up; knowing for a fact that I was well beyond the color of scarlet.

"AwI don't think you meant it!" He gave a fake pout.

I slowly looked up with a small smirk, "_I love you, _Sora!" I exclaimed loudly, throwing my arms around him and resting my head on his chest. It was quite the exaggeration compared to anything I would ever actually do naturally, but he could deal with it, "Better?"

He laughed and returned my embrace, "Yeah."

"Sorry if I'm interrupting anything," Selphie walked into the room causing both of our heads to turn towards the doorway, " but my Mom says we can't watch a movie 'cause she thinks we'll be up till three. And that doesn't work well for her because we have school tomorrow."

"Well, we can just hang out in here till she tells us to go to bed." I stated, feeling the red dying down. Instead of getting up, I adjusted myself to sit in Sora's lap so that I could face Selphie while I talked to her.

"Yeah." She nodded, plopping herself down on the bed next to me and Sora.

After a few minutes awkward silence, I spoke. Though the subject would be considered random at this point, it still needed to be discussed, "…What are we going to do to help Riku?"

"I don't think we _can_ do anything. Like I said the other day, we can't really do anything until we have believable proof. The police aren't gonna believe us if we just walk in there telling them that his parents abuse him and show them the cuts and bruises. They might do a little investigation, sure. Most likely Riku's parents will know, so the police won't be able to do anything." Sora replied in a sigh, leaning backwards against the wall and making me lean back with him.

Interrupting any more chance of conversation, he bedroom door slowly opened with a creak, causing me to jump out of Sora's lap and into the spot between him and Selphie. True, Selphie's mom knew that we were going out but for some reason I was still embarrassed about her seeing me and him doing anything that was not best friend like.

Poking her head through the door, Selphie's mom stated, "Hey, guys. Time for bed."

"You're staying here?" I questioned, turning back to Sora.

Nodding his head as he got up from the bed, he replied as he headed out the door, "Mhm."

"Goodnight, Kairi." Selphie's mom said before closing the door, with an echo of Selphie saying 'night' and Sora saying 'sweet dreams'.

"Night," I responded, even though I knew they could not hear me. I slowly picked myself up, dragging myself to the door to turn the light off and back. Falling backwards onto my bed, I closed my eyes and let out a long sigh before opening my eyes again to find a certain spiky-haired brunette beside my bed and the door now slightly open again.

Sitting up and laughing, I asked, "What'd you forget?"

Shaking his head, he answered, "Nothing."

"So, what brings you here?" I asked in a joking voice.

Cracking a bit of a smile at my question, he bit his lip before dragging out, "I don't wanna sound like a perv, but…I wanna sleep with you."

"_What?_" I blurted out, the red color returning to my cheeks. That was pretty straight forward of him.

"Not like _that!_" Sora exclaimed, turning a shade of red too, "I mean like, just sleep."

I stared at him for a while, thinking of whether I was going to regret this later or not, before sighing and scooting over to the other side of the bed, answering, "…Okay. But I swear if you try anything, I'm locking you out."

Giving his lopsided grin and taking the place next to me, he replied, "I won't, you know me better than that."

My heart still racing, I replied, "Well, you never know with teenage guys anymore."

"Hey, I resent that!" Sora gave a pout, slipping underneath the covers.

"Well…Goodnight." I sank down myself, turning over towards the wall and wrapping the blankets tightly around me.

"Night." He repeated, I letting out a small squeak of surprise when he pulled me against him, causing him to chuckle.

Even though I was probably the most comfortable as I have ever been in my life, my heart was pounding and I was finding it harder to breathe. _'C'mon, Kairi, calm down. If you keep breathing so hard Sora's going to worry.'_ I thought to myself as I tried to regulate my breathing. After a few minutes I finally managed to calm myself down, though I almost went into a fit again after I felt his breath lightly against my neck. Figuring flipping myself over would help, I found his eyes staring at me; causing my heart rate to quicken again.

Letting out a nervous giggle that I did not want to pass my lips, Sora smiled and leaned closer, kissing my forehead and whispering, "I love you,"

Burying my head into the shirt that covered his chest, I muffled my reply, "I love you, too." I can gladly say that it had never been easier to fall asleep then when ever he was beside me.

XXX

Being a semi-light sleeper, I awoke from a small noise from downstairs. Looking up at the boy's sleeping form, I had to giggle. '_He's even cuter when he's sleeping_.' I mentally noted before shaking it off and beginning to nudge him, "Hey, Sora, wake up."

Opening his sapphire eyes and quickly closing them again, he responded with, "Wha-what is it?"

"You might wanna go to your bedroom before Selphie's Mom comes up here to wake us up, or we're both dead." I stated with a laugh, causing him to immediately bolt up. I quickly felt the cold air against me as he got up.

Dashing out the door, he stated, "See you later,"

Shaking my head, I commented to myself, "Yeah, in like five seconds."

Then came a knock on the door. Selphie's mom poked her head in, quietly asking, "Hey, Kairi, are you up?"

"Uh-huh." I sat up and rubbed my eyes lazily.

"Okay. Do you think you're up to going to school today?" She asked with worry obviously etched in her emerald eyes, taking a seat on the foot of my bed.

"I'm not sure, but I'm gonna try again." I gave a weak smile, brushing a strand of my crimson hair behind my ear.

"Alright. Remember to call me if you don't feel up to it later." She responded, returning my smile, getting up and leaving the room again.

"Okay." I answered to myself as I lifted myself off of the bed, moving out into the hall.

"Hey, Kai, good morning!" Selphie chirped as I walked past her room.

"Yeah, morning Selph." I responded as I walked into the bathroom, closing the door and locking it. "Oh yeah. I forgot to get a pair of clothes to change into. Wow, I'm losing it." I mentally hit myself as I unlocked the door and opened it again. Running back into my room and grabbing a random t-shirt and jeans, I dashed back into the bathroom. After performing the daily ritual of changing, brushing my hair and teeth, deodorant, and all that other lovely stuff, I left the bathroom.

"Yay, you finally came out! I thought you fell and knocked yourself unconscious or something. You took _forever_." Sora teased from the end of the hallway, beginning to walk towards the bathroom.

"Whatever, I didn't take _that_ long!" I laughed as I brushed past him and headed back into my room.

"Watch, I'll take ten minutes or less." He smirked as he closed the bathroom door. Throwing my clothes in the dirty laundry basket, I went back into the hallway and kept my eyes glued towards the clock; occasionally glancing at the bathroom door.

Opening the bathroom door, Sora stated, "See?"

"_Ooh_, you took ten and a _half_ minutes, Sora." I gave a smirk as I pointed a finger towards the clock.

"…Fine, whatever." He laughed and rolled his eyes, heading down the staircase.

"Wait, don't I get like ten bucks or something? 'Cause you took longer than you said you would." I called out as I rushed after him.

"More like a quarter, if anything." He replied with a look back to me as he threw his backpack over his shoulder.

"Aw, c'mon." I faked a pout.

"Whoa, what did I miss?" Selphie raised an eyebrow as if we were talking about something suggestive.

"SelphieDo you _always_ have to assume things like that? That's just _wrong_!" I exclaimed, my face beginning to flush.

"Calm down, Kairi. I was just kidding, geez." Selphie laughed, patting me on the back as we exited her house, then asking with a smirk, "What are _you_ thinking I'm thinking, any way?"

"_Wha? _N-Nothing! I just thought you were thinking--Ugh, never mind." I blushed even more, quickening my pace to stay ahead of them to hide my face.

"Aw c'mon, Kairi. We all you know want me." He grinned, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

Feeling my face heat up even more, I commented, "You're not helping, Sora."

"Yeah, we all really know she wants _me._" Ryou's voice rang out from my side. I screamed and jumped backwards, Sora taking the place in front of me and Selphie beside me. Ryou just laughed and began to walk again, stating, "You know, Kairi; your friends won't always be there to protect you." His aquamarine eyes seemed to pierce right through me. I looked to the ground to escape his glance, but I could still feel his gaze upon me as he walked away.

"Forget what he says, we _will_ always be there for you when you need us." Sora said defensively, Selphie nodding her head in support as he said it.

"Well, I guess we better start walking again if we don't wanna be late." I began to walk again, Sora and Selphie tagging along behind; neither saying anything the rest of the way there. As much as I loved to hear him say it, I knew that Sora and Selphie would not _always_ be there. There would always be times where I was vulnerable.

As we walked through the front doors of the school, I said, "Um, well, see you guys after homeroom."

"Yeah." The both responded quietly before we all went off in different directions.

As I walked into my homeroom, Mrs. Spence's horrid voice commented, "On time today I see, Ms. Yoshida. You're making an improvement."

"Yes 'maam." I responded only that so that I would not get in trouble for back talking nor for not answering her at all. Sitting down at my desk, I sighed as I gently put down my binder and various books. Suddenly I reached for the charm on my necklace and fingered it; the sapphire charm necklace that Sora had given me for my birthday. '_I love you so much, Sora…Thank you for all you've done for me.' _I whispered in my mind as I closed my eyes, only to quickly re-open them; if Mrs. Spence caught me with my eyes closed for longer than it took to blink, she would write me up for 'sleeping in class'. It was her idea of entertainment, I suppose. The morning announcements began to pour out of the speakers around the school, and I prepared myself, ready to shoot up as soon as the bell rang. As soon as it did, I was definitely the first one out. Keeping the same pace, I carefully dodged past everyone else in the hall until I finally reached the theatre classroom.

"Here, Kairi, pick one of these," Mrs. Mattox held out a plastic container filled halfway with paper strips, "We're going to practice cold readings, so you need a part."

"Okay." I answered as I stuck my hand into the container and pulled out my line. It was Scrooges Lost Love said in "A Christmas Carol". _'Oh this is perfect!' _I thought to myself. I had got to very same part in seventh grade. I will never forget that; I was so happy. It was one of three parts you actually had to audition for, everyone else had to draw from a hat to get their character. Out of all the people that auditioned, _I_ got the part; that made me feel _so_ good. Snapping me out of my reminiscing was the loud shrill of the school bell. Looking around, I realized Selphie and Sora had entered the class without me noticing.

"Okay class," Mrs. Mattox started, talking loud to over come the sound of thunder that had started during homeroom, and to keep us paying attention to her instead of the rapid flashes of lightning that were coming through the window, "As you know, we're going to work on cold readings. So, everyone stand up and make a line on that side of the room." She said pointing to her left, and our right. Everyone in the class stood up, pushing in their chairs and walking to the right side of the room. However, interrupting us all was the power failure; leaving us all in the dark, with quite a few of the girls in the class screaming in response.

"Now everyone, calm down. The school's generators will kick on in just a minute." Mrs. Mattox said loudly in a reassuring voice. I felt my body shiver as if I had had ice water poured over me as I felt a hand moving up my bare back, underneath my shirt.

"Sora?" I asked quietly, hoping it was him trying to put his hand on my back reassuringly and accidentally getting his hand up my shirt. But the slow movement was too deliberate and after hearing no reply, I let out a loud squeak before hearing the sound of a punch and a crack.

"Get away from her!" I heard Sora yell; the lights flickered on to reveal Ryou holding his nose which had began to spurt blood.

"_Sora!_" Mrs. Mattox gasped, "I…I don't know what to say, I wouldn't of expected this from you…"

"He had his hand underher shirt. If that's not some kind of sexual harassment, I don't know what is!" Sora replied breathlessly, glaring at Ryou who was clutching his nose as if his life was ending.

"_Oh._" Mrs. Mattox replied in a quiet voice, "Is this true Kairi…?" I made sure to turn my head so that I would not face Ryou, giving a small nod. "Ryou, come with me…" Mrs. Mattox grabbed him by the wrist and led him out the door. But he never looked away from us as he left; a look of pure venom etched on his face.


	10. Don't Look Away

**Again, I must comment on how drastically my writing skill improved over a few months. The first few chapters were more like re-writing more than editing, now I just have to edit the occasionally sentence because it's worded weird. Yay, that makes me so happy **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

Shattered Dreams: Chapter Ten

XXX

It was three weeks before Ryou returned to school. His nose was almost fully healed, but it would never look the same again, thanks to Sora. Of course, with that flaw, Ryou automatically dropped down from being adored by all the girls to just another ordinary guy; another reason for him to hate Sora. There were still a few girls in "love" with Ryou, but he did not find it quite as pleasing as having every girl in the school's hearts in his hands; except for mine. He would never have mine, and I guess that is another reason why he hated Sora.

"Kairi, are you gonna be okay today? Since he's back and all…" Selphie asked in a gentle voice as we all watched Ryou give death glares to whoever managed to look at him in a wrong way.

"Yeah…I have to suck it up for once." I nodded, looking away from Ryou. He was even more pissed off at the world than usual, which made my fear of him even worse. But I meant what I said; I was going to stand up to him today. More of what I hoped was that he had learned his lesson and would completely leave me alone.

"O-okay." She replied quietly, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"I would definitely stay as far as possible from him. He's not exactly happy; especially you, Sora. But I'm sure you already knew that." Riku nodded his head toward Sora as he spoke.

"Yeah, I know he's not, and I don't care." Sora replied with a roll off his eyes, staring off towards the road.

Grabbing Sora by the shoulders to make him pay attention, Riku stated very solemnly, "Don't be stupid. You know what he's capable of, Sora; especially when he's mad. If he really wants to do something, he won't stop until it's done."

Sora blinked and looked off to the side, his expression showing that his pride was hurt, "…I know."

"Look I know you want to protect Kairi," I flushed as Riku said this, "but you've got to think about your own and everyone else's well-being, too."

Sora looked at me with a small smile before turning back to Riku, "I know. It's just really hard to think about what you're doing sometimes, when you're blinded with fear and anger."

"I understand that, but we need to find away around that, get through to your hard head." Riku tapped a knuckle against Sora's head as he gave a small grin.

"Hey! Ow…" Sora complained as he rubbed the top of his head.

"C'mon, you two. They just opened the school doors; we don't wanna be late," I said nodding my head toward the rest of the school rushing through the doors, sighing as I finished, "Especially me. Ugh, Mrs. Spence. What an evil witch."

As we began towards the school, Sora laughed at my statement, "Only a couple more months of her, Kai. Then you'll never have to see her again."

"Yeah," I smiled knowing that this was true, but I jokingly added to my negativity, "But then again, they _could_ move her up a grade."

"Nah, she's been in this grade forever, I doubt they'd switch her." Sora paused, causing me to bump into him. Laughing a little, he stated, "Here's your homeroom, if you didn't notice."

Blushing a bit, I added, "Come to think of it, I didn't even notice if Riku or Selphie said bye to us."

Blinking for a moment and taking a look around, he replied, "Uh, oops. I guess I didn't notice they left, either."

"We're such kind friends." I stated sarcastically, laughing after I did.

"Yep," He answered with a grin. Without warning, he wrapped me into a tight hug, letting go quickly and stated, "I should go. See ya next period,"

I made no comment back, only gave a small wave before heading into the classroom. When I walked past Mrs. Spence's desk today, I received no smart comment about being early because she was reading what looked like a school memo. Or something like that. I spent the fifteen minutes of homeroom, staring at a page of my book, pretending to be reading but really reminiscing random memories; of course mostly ones with Sora.

XXX

"Hey, Kai!" I looked up as I heard Sora's voice.

Seeing his heartwarming grin I smiled back broadly, "Hi, Sora."

"Yay! Looks like free-day again!" Selphie suddenly popped up to exclaim, rushing past both of us into the classroom.

"Really? Awesome." Sora commented with a wink, causing me to giggle.

"There's still P.D.A rules, Sora." Riku added, appearing behind Sora.

"Aw, man. Riku, you take all the fun out of everything." Sora replied as he fake-punched his best friend.

Riku brushed off the spot where Sora had "punched" him and replied, "Hey, it's the truth."

"Yeah, I know. But I've gotten away with it too many times to count already," Sora stuck out his tongue and grinned, "So what's one more time?"

"The 'one more time' could be the one time you get caught." Riku answered, sitting down on the floor in our usual spot.

"Meh, whatever." Sora rolled his eyes although he was still smiling and sat down next to Riku, pulling me down next to him.

Giving a smirk at Sora, Selphie turned to Riku to comment, "If you said that to Sora a couple of weeks ago, he would have been totally crimson."

Sora raised an eyebrow at his younger friend, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm just saying you got a _whole_ lot more cocky since you and Kairi have been going out." Selphie responded, putting her arms behind her head as she laid down. I began to blush and I looked over at Sora to see his face had a slight shade of pink to it, too.

"Y-yeah, so?" Sora responded, placing his head in his hands as if he was bored but everyone knew it was to hide his crimson shaded face.

"Nothing," Selphie chimed, "Just saying."

"Um, okay…" Sora trailed off, waiting a few minutes before putting his hands back at his sides.

"So, Sora, what are you gonna do for spring break?" Selphie asked as she shot up into the sitting position again.

"Nothing I know of," Seeing a look of interest on the girls face, he raised an eyebrow as he asked, "…Wait, are you actually asking or just suggesting something?"

Selphie replied simply, "Both."

"Okay…What are you suggesting, then?" He asked in reply.

"Yeah, what are you suggesting? You haven't even told _me_ what we're doing yet…" I commented with a confused stare. Strange how I could live in the same house and be absolutely uninformed of vacation plans.

"We're going to our beach house!" Selphie proclaimed energetically.

"Okay, I'm up for it; Mom will most likely give me the same answer as always. So, you dragging any one else along?" Sora asked with a smirk before Selphie smacked his head, causing him to let out a small yelp.

"I'm not _dragging _anyone, they're coming at free will," Selphie crossed her arms with an annoyed look, glancing away for a moment before turning back, "And if you have to know, yes, I am. Tidus. And Riku, you can come if you can." Selphie added on as she looked back at him with an approving smile.

Riku gave a small smile and murmured, "Can't."

"Sorry." Sora, Selphie, and I responded simultaneously

"It's okay, really. Even if I _could _go, Ryou would probably take my spot." He stared off at the opposite side of the room, where his twin brother was fumbling through his binder and mumbling incoherently. I shuddered. I definitely did _not_ want him to be in a beach house with me, especially since Selphie's Mom always goes out. I had learned that from the past couple of times I had been down there.

"So, when are we leaving?" Sora yawned, stretching his arms out as he spoke, letting one linger around my shoulder.

"After school." Selphie replied simply, beginning to yawn a little too.

"_What_?" Sora's eyes fluttered wide open.

"Don't worry, we'll stop by your house and you can pick up your stuff." Selphie ran her hands through her hair in a bored manner, as if her statement had been an obvious one.

"Okay, but I haven't even _asked_ my Mom if I can go yet!" Sora exclaimed, surprised at the spur of the moment events. But then again, I did not know anything about it either until a few minutes ago

Selphie stared at her newly painted fingernails, a sparkly pink, giving them a nod of approval before looking back up at Sora and answering him, "All taken care of. My Mom called the other night."

Mouth agape, he questioned, "How come no one told _me_ anything?"

"No one told me either. But then again, I don't really have much to pack, do I?" I gave a small laugh, brushing a few strands of my hair in my face behind my ear. My comment was a bit negative, and I regretted saying it after I did, but everyone seemed to just brush it off.

"That reminds me, we have to go bathing suit shopping once we get there!" Selphie exclaimed as if she had just won the lottery. I seriously did not get why she got so excited over the thought.

"Um, okay." I replied with a shrug. I guess I did not really have a choice in whether I wanted to go or not; I did not have a bathing suit. Even if I did have one from my house, it probably would not have fit.

"Does that mean I have to go, too?" Sora perked up a bit, causing me to begin to blush again.

"You betcha! My Mom knows we can't trust you and Tidus alone in the beach house; you'll eat all the food! Besides, you have to judge how _hot _Kairi looks in her bathing suit, right?" Selphie added with a glance to me, smirking from the pleasure of managing to embarrass me; not that it was a hard task to accomplish.

"_What?_" The word barely escaped from my lips, sounding just above a whisper.

"Um…" His face turned a dark shade of red before he remembered Selphie's comment from earlier, "Um…Yeah, right, of course that's my job, right Kairi?" Sora grinned at me with new found enthusiasm.

I laughed and attempted to hide my crimson face in my hands, "_Sora!_"

"And his cockiness returns!" Riku announced, flicking a spike of Sora's brunette hair.

Selphie giggled, "See, I told you!" The school's oh-so-annoying bell ran out through out the school, temporarily ending the fun.

"See you at the end of the day!" Selphie called out as she headed down the hallway.

"Can't wait!" I responded, more to myself than to Selphie, since she was already too far to have heard me.

"See ya," Sora gently kissed me on the forehead before starting off to his next class, Riku lagging behind him; rolling his eyes at his younger friend. I gave a small laugh before I started off for my own class. A few feet from the door I needed to get to, I was knocked backwards against the wall, causing me to let out a sharp yelp of pain.

"Hey, Kairi." I could feel some one standing over me, and I immediately knew who it was. That same deep voice that had haunted me all of these years.

"Ryou," I coughed out, as I began to open my eyes.

"Yep," Placing both of his hands against my shoulders, he commented with a sly smirk, "You might want to remember that name for later tonight,"

My eyes widened in disgust, "In your dreams."

Ryou ignored my comment and continued, "By the way; I heard you and your friends talking about your plans for spring break."

"Yeah, so?" I spat. I wanted him to shut_ up_. He had ruined my life enough already; it was not like he could do much more. All I wanted to do was get to class.

"So I'm planning on visiting you." He started to move closer to me as I moved backwards; but you can only go so far back into a wall.

"You-you don't even know where it is!" I exclaimed loudly, desperate for some one to come, some one to find us; and stop him.

"Oh, but I do. And if you tell any of your friends about this, " Ryou pressed himself against me, making me clench my eyes shut and hold my breath, "Consider this only a warning of what I'm going to do." I did not know what else to do, when his lips touched my skin; I screamed. Noticing that he only kissed harder and figuring out screaming only pleased him, I automatically stopped. I tried every way I could think of to escape, but every attempt was futile.

His lips moved against mine at a force that it seems like razors being slit across my lips. I was trying to hard to at least turn my head and break the unwanted contact. As soon as his tongue had passed through my lips that I had kept as shut as a dead locked door, I bit down as hard as I could. I could taste the strange yet familiar taste of blood in my mouth, making the urge to throw up even stronger. He still did not stop; he only pressed himself against me harder, making me go against the wall even more and making the binders in my backpack dig into my back. The late bell rang, causing Ryou to finally step away from me; I letting out a huge gasp for air once he did. He walked off smirking knowing I watching him; an icy glare from my sapphire eyes as they released their tears. I walked into class, ignoring everyone's curious looks as I made my way to my desk; thanking God that the teacher wasn't there yet.

XXX

Even though I felt violated and empty, all of those feelings faded the moment I caught a glance of Sora. Although moments in my life may never be removed from my memory, he could always take away the pain of remembering.

"Hey, Kairi," As soon as he caught sight of my facial expression, he frowned, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing…" I trailed off before a voice came over the loud speaker.

"_Ms. Wilson, will you please send Kairi Yoshida and Sora Kimura to the front office, ready to go?" _

"Yes!" Ms. Wilson replied back, staring at us as she pointed towards the door.

"Already?" I asked, wondering what was up.

"Yet again something Selphie forgot to tell us." Sora rolled his sapphire eyes, and we started down the hallway, laughing.

XXX

_End of Act I_


	11. I Need You

**Yay, Sora's point of view! This is where the story gets really good, in my opinion. Though the last chapter was pretty good. Yes, I enjoy reading my own writing sometimes; I'm that lame lol. I'm like my own reader, going, "Oh what's going to happen next?…Oh yeah, I have to make it up, damn."**

**Haha. Okay, enough with my random babbling.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Nor do I own apple/ipod. But I do own one XD. Shameless promotion.**

Shattered Dreams

Act II

Chapter 11

XXX

As I crammed my bag full of clothes, I yelled to myself, "Gotta hurry, gotta hurry!" "Done!" I exclaimed, slamming the drawer closed, zipping up my backpack, throwing it over my shoulder and dashing down the stairs. Shutting the front door behind me, I exclaimed, "Bye Mom, see you soon!"

"You're done already?" Selphie asked as she removed her earphones as I climbed into the car.

"Yeah," I nodded giving her an look that clearly said 'What did you expect?', slapping the seat belt across my shoulder and into its holder.

"He's a guy, Selphie, he doesn't take as long to pack." Kairi laughed, looking up from her sketch pad. Although she did not like to admit, she was an amazing artist.

"Oh. Hmm, that's weird...Do you just shove random stuff into your suitcase?" Selphie titled her head, getting ready to put her earphones back in again.

"Yeah..." I trailed off, raising my eyebrow. '_What else would I do?' _I thought to myself, rolling my sapphire eyes.

"Oh," She blinked and shrugged, putting her earphones back in.

"You know," Kairi started, pulling on the wire of Selphie's earphone so that it would fall out, "We still have to pick Tidus up, so we won't be out of town very soon. You should try to save your battery."

"Yeah, good point." Selphie replied, as she removed the cords and turned her ipod off.

"Hey, Sora, will you switch seats with me?" Selphie leaned over the seat as we pulled into Tidus's driveway.

"Uh, sure." I replied with a shrug, taking off the seat beat and switching places with her. I would not say no to sitting with Kairi, but I did not really expect Selphie to willingly give up her seat. I had no problem sitting with Tidus, even though he knew Selphie more than me or Kairi. Tidus and me were pretty good friends; we played street hockey together during the summer. He is a pretty important player considering he is the only goalie that any of us know. Pretty talented too, but he had a lot of off days.

"Hi." We all greeted simultaneously as Tidus entered the car.

"Hi, guys!" Tidus exclaimed in response, slamming the car door behind him. Kairi turned towards the window, slipping the headphones of her CD player over her ears, Selphie soon doing the same. I automatically copied the other two, smiling as I watched Tidus look around the car for some one to talk to, shrugging before putting his own headphones on. I shook my head with a quiet laugh before turning to the window.

Car rides were always a time for reminiscing, especially while I was staring out the window and listening to my CD player. I glanced at Kairi, remembering how a few months ago, she was way out of reach.

_'Now that we're close, I'm so scared to lose her. She seems so fragile, yet I know she's strong because she puts up with all this crap that she doesn't deserve to deal with. I always feel like that if I say or do something wrong, I'll hurt her even more. That's why I tried so hard not to be anything more than a best friend to her.' _I turned and looked to her with a weakened smile, _'But it hurt either way, knowing that I could lose her forever or holding back my true feelings.' _

Her voice broke me out of my daze, "Hey, what are you looking at?"

"Huh? Oh. Sorry, I was just kinda spaced out." I smiled apologetically, scratching the back of my head in embarrassment before pausing my CD player incase she was going to say anything else.

"Oh, okay." Kairi smiled back at me, about to put her headphones on again before Selphie had an outburst.

"_Finally!_ I've been waiting forever for some one to talk! I can't stand not talking for a whole car ride it's so...awkward." Selphie trailed off with a laugh as she shoved her ipod to the side.

Kairi and I looked at each other, silently saying 'Oh God, here we go.' both of us answering, "Yeah..."

"So what do ya wanna do when we get there?" Selphie titled her head, turned around to talk to us in the back seat.

"Dunno." Me and Tidus replied in unison.

Laying my head against the window, I added, "I've never been there before, so I have no idea what there is to do."

"We can always go to the pool, I guess." Kairi suggested, beginning to sit up straight again to talk to Selphie.

"Yeah, great idea!" Selphie exclaimed before throwing her headphones over her head again.

"That was random..." I trailed off, closing my eyes from the exhaustion of the fast paced day.

"Yeah, but Selphie's always random." Kairi pointed out with a laugh.

"Good point." I grinned, opening my eyes again to look to her.

She yawned, stretching out her arms and muttering, "Heh, I'm getting tired already."

"Well it's a long car ride, right? Sleeping would probably make it seem shorter; so that's probably the smart thing to do." I yawned and smiled at her, "Now look, you got _me_ started!" She giggled, laying her head down against the bottom window. Watching her turn over repeatedly, I asked, "Hey, do you wanna use my jacket as a pillow or something? I'm sure it's a lot comfortable than just the window."

"Hmm?" She sat up again, blinked, and then smiled, "Oh...Yeah, thanks." I handed my jacket to her and watched as she bundled it up then laid her head down on the window with it. I turned back to my own window, leaning my face against it as I stared out the window.

I snapped out of a daze as I felt something against my shoulder and clutching my arm. Glancing at my side, I felt my face beginning to grow warm seeing that it was Kairi. By the calm expression on her angelic face, I could tell she was already asleep. I quietly laughed to myself, noticing that it looked like she had a death hold on my jacket in her sleep. I laid my head on top of hers, hoping to slowly drift into sleep. Although I knew Selphie, Tidus, _and_ even Selphie's mom would tease us once we awoke, but I did not really care.

XXX

"Wakey, wakey, lovebirds! We're here!" Selphie exclaimed in a sing-song voice.

"Five more minutes..." I muttered, my eyes still locked shut.

Feeling a shove against my shoulder, the younger girl's voice sighed, "Just wake up."

"Alright, alright." I yawned, opening my eyes to see Kairi still attached to my arm. "Hey, Kai, wake up." I said as I shook her gently until she opened her eyes.

"Huh...? What is it?" She asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"We're here." I answered softly; wondering if I would be able to feel my arm at all once she let go.

"Oh!" She was automatically awake, letting go of my arm and stretching out hers in a yawn, "Well, c'mon, lets get out. We don't wanna spend the rest of the day in the car, right?" She giggled as she picked up her bag.

"Nope." I replied, jumping out of the car, throwing my backpack over my shoulder, and holding out my hand for Kairi.

"Heh, thanks." She smiled, taking my hand and jumping down from the car. But she did not land right, I guess, because she slipped, "_Ah!_"

I caught her with my other arm and helped her stand up again, "Whoa, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think my legs are just weak from the long car drive, sorry..." She laughed softly with an apologetic smile, beginning to pick up her bag.

"No, lemme get that. I don't want you to fall down the stairs or anything." I joked, beginning to walk towards the beach house, which was a lot bigger than I had imagined, with my and her bags.

"Sora, you don't have to--"

"C'mon, Kairi." I cut her off, pulling her hand gently to signal her to not worry about it and keep walking.

"Okay..." She trailed off, lagging behind but not letting go of my hand. Once we had reached the door, I turned to her and noticed she was staring at the ground with a sorrowful expression etched on her face.

My smile began to fade as I titled my head and asked her, "Hey, is something wrong?"

"Huh?" She shot her head up and put on a small smile, "Oh, It's...Just nothing, really."

"Okay..." I blinked, opening the door. My mouth dropped as we entered the house. Everything was so...luxurious! But the weird thing was about everything was white; almost to the point where it was blinding.

"I see what you meant by you didn't trust me and Tidus alone in here. We'd probably get like food stains everywhere." I told Selphie, still gawking at the house.

"Yup!" She responded in a laugh.

After a few minutes of everyone admiring the house's interior, Tidus asked, "So, when we going to the pool?"

"How 'bout, now?" Selphie began walking towards the front door.

"Wha? Don't we need to like, get changed and stuff first?" I gave a confused stare to the younger girl.

"No, just go in your clothes. Kairi doesn't have her stuff yet, and we aren't gonna stay that long either." She replied as the opened the front door.

"Okay, then..." I trailed off, following her, Kairi, and Tidus out the door.

"What's the point of going to the pool if we're not swimming...?" The blonde asked with a tilt of his head.

"Dunno!" Selphie exclaimed in her usual happy, care-free self.

"Heh, nice." I responded as I put my hands in my pockets, noting Kairi's sudden silence.

As we walked through the gate to get into the pool, I noticed a few snack and drink machines and stated, "Hey guys, I'm gonna get a soda."

"Okay!" Selphie and Tidus responded walking off, Kairi following after them. Putting the spare change from my pocket into the machine, I heard an unfamiliar voice begin to speak from around the corner.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before. What's your name?"

"Um...Kairi." I heard her respond. Figuring she was probably back there looking for me, I grabbed my soda and started walking back towards the voices.

"Kairi, huh? That's a pretty name. My name's Roxas," A blonde with spiky hair somewhat similar to my own came into view. I walked past him, standing beside Kairi and giving him a death glare, "And who's this? Your brother?"

"N-no he's-" She stammered before I cut her off.

Wrapping my arms around her protectively, I answered, "I'm her boyfriend."

"Oh, I see...Well see ya later then, Kairi." He smiled to her, but gave a slight frown in my direction before walking off.

"Um, hi?" She laughed nervously in response to my actions.

"Yeah, hi." I laughed, stuffing my hands into my pockets, "Sorry bout that."

"Uh, it's okay?" She giggled slightly, "Let's just go find Selphie and Tidus."

"Yeah." I responded following her back into the main area of the pool. Looking up, I was not surprised to see Selphie standing with a circle of guys, while Tidus stood a couple feet away; a confused expression on his face.

"C'mon, Selphie!" I exclaimed with a roll of my eyes, grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her back towards the house, with Tidus lagging behind.

Struggling to free herself, Selphie pouted, "You guys ruin all the fun!"


	12. Life On Standby

**So, today I'm at my Dad's house awaiting my orthodontist appointment once he and or my step mom get home. Joy, joy…And also, because I'm a smart child, I left my bag with clothes on the table at Mom's house so I have to wear my Step Mom's clothes. It's only to the orthodontist, but ick. Well, the shirt isn't too bad but the pants, oh my god. Hm, yeah I'll stop complaining now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, kthx.**

Shattered Dreams: Chapter Twelve

XXX

After we got back to the beach house from the pool, the moment I laid down on my bed I slipped into a deep sleep. Waking up many hours later, being the lazy person I am, I slowly blinked my eyes open to the bright day light that reflected off of the white walls. Sitting up and stretching out my arms, I took in the various voices that rang out from down stairs. I could hear every word Selphie said, she talking in a much louder voice than needed. I could of course easily tell Kairi's voice from all the others that were spoken once I heard it, but there was another girl's voice; one I did not know.

'_Maybe it's Selphie's mom and I just can't recognize it or something…'_ I thought, squinting my eyes as I got out of bed and dragged myself into the also bright hallway. The sun shining off of all of the white walls in that beach house was enough to blind you, I swear; especially right after you woke up. Stumbling into the living room, I raised an eyebrow toward the unknown blonde that was sitting next to Kairi.

Kairi noticed my presence and jumped up from the couch, exclaiming, "Hey, Sora! I see you're finally up, you lazy bum."

"Yeah…" I yawned, stretching out my arms again as I did, "…by the way, who's the new girl?"

Kairi glanced to the couch as if she didn't remember, then replied, "Oh, yeah, sorry! Sora, this is Naminè. Naminè, this is Sora."

"Hi…" I saw a pinkish tint creep across the blonde's face.

"Hi." I replied as I took a seat on the other side of Kairi. I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer, partly just to signify to the blonde that we were going out if Kairi had not already told her.

"We met her when we went shopping. You could have gone too, if you hadn't of been sleeping for so long." Kairi stated with her own yawning, tilting her head against my shoulder, adding, "Lazy bum."

"What is that, my new nickname or something?" I inquired with a laugh, laying my head on hers.

The redhead replied with a giggle, "Maybe."

"Oh yeah, Sora we deprived you of seeing Kairi trying on her bathing suits, didn't we?" Selphie asked with as in a tone that sounded as if she were a mother talking to a five year old.

Feeling an all too familiar warmth creep across my face, I retorted, "Whatever, Selphie…"

"Um…sorry to interrupt you, but I think I should be getting home." The blonde girl stated in a quiet voice.

"Aw, so soon?" Kairi gave a saddened look to the blonde girl.

Giving a nod and standing up, Naminè replied, "I haven't been home for a while now; my parents are probably getting worried."

"Hm, you're right. Actually, hold on, Naminè. Me and Tidus were gonna go back to the pool so we can walk with you." The brunette stated as she jumped up from the couch and dashed to the stairs.

"Okay." The girl replied softly, stopping just before the door.

"TIDUS!" Selphie yelled from the bottom of the stairs, "Come down here, we're going back to the pool!"

"_Coming!_" Tidus called out, racing down the stairs.

With a wave, Selphie exclaimed loudly before shutting the door behind them, "Bye!"

Staring at the spot where they were just standing, watching the screen door swing shut, I trailed off, "Uh, okay…So, where's Selphie's Mom at?"

"She went out for dinner with her friend or something…" Kairi responded as she jumped up from the couch, facing me as she added, "Speaking of dinner, lemme cook it."

"No, I'll do it." I offered as I started to stand up.

She placed her hand on my shoulder, slightly shoving me down, "No, lemme do it."

Tilting my head slightly to achieve the 'puppy-dog-look', I asked, "Can I at least help?"

She smiled and pushed me backwards onto the couch, "Nah, just sit here."

"Okay." I smiled back, watching her take every graceful step into the kitchen. I knew for a fact that whenever I stared, I always got caught; but I could not take my eyes off her. It was true; I obsessed a lot. I just could not believe what a miracle I was living in. Not that everything' was _perfect_, but it was still as good as it could get; as long as I had Kairi.

"Hey, it's done!" I blinked at the hand waving in my face.

"Whoa, what'd you cook that took that short of a time?" I flushed slightly. '_Did I really space out that long? Hopefully not…'_

"Spaghetti. Easy to cook, and tastes good too." She replied with a laugh, handing me a plate and fork.

After downing half of the food, I exclaimed, "Oh my god, Kairi, this have to be the most delicious thing I've ever tasted!" Maybe it was an exaggeration, but it was good and I was hungry.

"Be serious, Sora." She laughed, daintily placing a small amount in her mouth while I sucked it up like a vacuum cleaner.

With a mouth full of food I replied, "I am!"

"Uh…Thanks then." She replied in a nervous laugh, standing up and walking into the kitchen to put her dish away.

"So…what to do, now?" I asked, jumping up to put my plate away too.

As we both passed each other, she answered, "I dunno."

"I guess we could go to the pool with Selphie and Tidus." I suggested as I ran water against the plate, placing it in the dish washer and heading back into the living room.

"Maybe in a while…I don't really feel like it right now." She replied softly, her lips curled upward into a small smile.

"Yeah, okay." I replied, sitting down next to her. Ever since I turned around to answer her, it seemed impossible to unglue my eyes from her figure.

"Sora?" I couldn't take it anymore, I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers; cutting off what ever she was going to say.

She returned the kiss for a few seconds before hesitantly pulling away, softly muttering, "Sora…I can't."

Shock and worry spread throughout my body, asking breathlessly, "…What is it?" '_Am I moving too fast…?'_ Was the first question that ran through my mind. I stared at Kairi with an uncertain frown as I waited for her reply.

"Well…because of what Ryou did last Fri--" She blinked her sapphire eyes and clasped her hands over her mouth, realizing her mistake.

"_What_?" I inhaled sharply and stared at Kairi with a deep look of concern etched on my face, I placing a hand over hers as I spoke, "Kairi…you really need to tell me about stuff like this. I love you and I don't want any one to hurt you like he is."

Her eyes shot across the room, searching for a distraction as she spoke, "…H-he told me not to tell anyone, and I didn't want you to get hurt. And the only reason I'm scared of this is because these experiences are suppose to be precious and you're suppose to share them with some one you love. But Ryou keeps forcing me, so instead I feel scared. And I think because the first experience was frightening, then I'll feel that way even when I'm with you. I don't want to be scared Sora, because I love you."

"I love you too…So, should I stop? Like, just start back at square one again, so that you can be comfortable with me?" I asked in a soft tone, still lingering inches from her.

"No; I'm not going to let him win." She answered with a slight shake of her head, closing her eyes and starting to lean forward.

"I'm glad." I replied, fighting off the smirk that tugged at my lips as she inched towards me.

Just as I was about to close the distance between us, a familiar, yet at this moment very annoying voice rang out, "We're back!--Whoa." The surprise caused both me and Kairi to slam our heads into each others.

"Holy crap, Selphie!" I exclaimed, wincing at the pain throbbing from my head, "Sorry about that, Kairi…"

Holding a hand against her head and wincing too, she replied with a forced smile, "It's okay."

Selphie plopped herself down on to the cough directly across from us with a smirk, "God, I have a habit of coming in at the worst times, don't I?" I noticed the brunette take a slight glance at Tidus walking up the stairs before staring at us again.

"Yes." We both replied at once, causing her to laugh.

"I'm gifted like that I guess." Our younger friend replied with a grin. She may be younger, but I swear when Selphie smirked it seemed as if she was five years older than us. Like a gossip reporter or something. It was kinda creepy, actually.

"Hey, I just noticed we're like missing the whole concept of the beach, we haven't even been to the ocean yet!" I exclaimed randomly, just to talk about something else. Besides, it was true.

Selphie jumped up from the couch, I watched the white leather re-inflate itself as she exclaimed, "Yeah! Let's go for a walk on the beach or something, since it's kinda getting too dark to go swimming."

"Not like that's stopped you before, Selphie." I muttered, but made it audible on purpose.

She pouted slightly, replying, "Hey! That's not nice."

"It's true." I responded in a laugh, grabbing Kairi's hand and pulling us both upward.

Selphie grinned as she pulled open the back screen door, "Yeah, you're right."

"Aren't you gonna ask Tidus if he wants to go?" Kairi asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"Nah. He probably fell asleep already, knowing him." The brunette replied, beginning to walk out the door.

"Okay…" Kairi trailed off as she followed Selphie out the door, pulling me along with her.

As we began to walk across the bridge that had been built over the dunes, I asked, "So when's your mom coming back? Do you think she'll care we're out here?" I had to slightly raise my voice, the pounding of the waves already audible.

"Knowing her, she probably won't be back till like one in the morning. And, nope, she won't care." Selphie replied, pulling her hair back into a pony tail. I did not really see the point of it, considering her hair was some-what short.

"Heh, okay." I replied, almost tripping over the edge of the bridge as we stepped off it and on to the sand. I quickly caught myself knowing that if I fell, I would have pulled Kairi down with me too.

"Wow, that's so pretty!" Selphie's emerald eyes glimmered with delight as the ocean finally came into view, a beautiful sunset lingering over the pounding waves.

" Yeah…" Kairi responded, staring out into the ocean with an entranced look.

"It is…well, let's keep walking." I replied after a few seconds of staring at it, already bored, putting one hand in front of Selphie's face and snapping, and gently tugging Kairi's wrist with the other.

"Yeah, we should only stay out here for a couple of minutes, 'cause it's still kinda cold." Kairi commented with a slight shiver as we made our way down to the shoreline.

With a smirk I began to bend over, scooping up water into my hand, "Oh, is it now?"

Kairi stared with widened eyes "You wouldn't."

"I would." I replied with a smirk before splashing the water on to her.

She screamed out then laughed, "_Sora_! Now I'm even colder!"

"Then I'll make you warm." I replied wrapping my arms around her waist from behind her.

The redhead giggled, "We can't walk like this, though!"

"Have you guys forgotten I'm here?" Selphie asked with a smirk upon her face as she stood before us.

"How could we forget about _you_, Selphie?" I replied in a slightly sarcastic tone, giving her a grin.

Rolling her eyes at my reply, she then suddenly cooed, "_Aw_! You two finally aren't afraid to admit your emotions anymore. Congratulations!" The brunette then attempted to latch herself around both of us but only succeeded in knocking us off balance.

"W-_whoa!_" I exclaimed as we all went crashing to the ground, all laughing, "Ow, Selphie." Picking ourselves up and dusting off the sand, we began to head back towards the beach house.

If there was anything close to heaven, this had to be it; and I never wanted it to end.


	13. Rain

**Do guys even have dreams about weddings? Haha, if not I guess Sora has to be a little girly. For a minute there I was like 'hmm…should I change it to like them about to have sex cuz I know that guys have those dreams…No…blah." Oh well. Just pretend that it's not girly XD.**

**KJDOSJDF. "We can make our family normal." Is another lovely quote from my ex. Dear God, why? All of this stuff is so embarrassing now D: God there's a whole lot more than I remembered being in here…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own KH. **

Shattered Dreams

Chapter Thirteen

XXX

"I do." Kairi answered, her sapphire orbs nervously glancing around the room. I smiled at her behavior, even though I was nervous myself.

"You may now kiss the bride." Snapped me out of my daze, and I leaned forward.

"Mrs. Kimura; never thought I'd hear that." I murmured, mere millimeters from her lips.

"Sora…" She giggled quietly, "Wake up." Giving her a confused stare, I then blinked my eyes open to the real, younger her. "What were you dreaming about…?" She asked with a tilt of her head, several strands of hair that had been tucked behind her ear falling in front of her face.

I blinked my eyes for a moment and smirked, "You."

She smiled, kissing my forehead, "You're too sweet."

"Blame my family." I answered with a grin as I began to sit up.

"At least your family wasn't as strange as mine." She replied with a giggle, plopping down next to me, laying her head on my shoulder.

"Well everyone's family is strange, in their own way." I replied in a soft tone.

"I guess you're right." The red-head answered into my shoulder, closing her eyes.

I held my breath for a moment before letting out, "We can make our family normal." I gulped slightly. It sounded a whole lot better in my head. _'Crap!_' Kairi lifted her head and stared me straight in the eyes. Blinking my sapphire eyes, my glance shot across the room desperately to find a distraction, but it didn't work.

Slowly my eyes lingered back to hers, "…Why are you staring at me?"

She kept the same serious expression. "Did you really mean that…" Her face came closer to mine, questioning shining in her eyes, "What you just said?"

"Um, Yeah; I did." I replied in a nervous laugh. Kairi with a serious expression was just so awkward. The moment itself was awkward; awkward enough to make me want to randomly burst out laughing.

She smiled, retreating back slightly, "I love you."

"I love you too…" I answered, before finally bursting out into my fit of laughter.

Giving a raised eye brow, she eyed me curiously as she asked, "…What?"

I grinned, laughing a bit still, "I'm sorry but…Heh, you with a serious expression like that. It's just so not you."

"Not me, huh?" She smirked slightly, and then leapt forward in an attempt to tickle me.

I shook my head and laughed, hugging her so tightly so that she could not move her arms, "Now that's more like you. But I guess you forgot I'm stronger than you."

She laughed, squirming as she exclaimed, "Sora, let go of me!"

"But I don't wanna..." I pouted, pulling her closer and nudging my head against hers.

She giggled, "Sora, stop it!"

I let go of her, crossing my arms in mock anger, "Aw, fine. Be that way, meanie."

"I'm not a meanie!" She exclaimed in response.

"Yeah you are." I continued my act, flashing a grin for a split second.

"Am not." She insisted again, giggling as she wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on my chest.

With a grin, I sighed, "Fine. You win."

She looked up, "Oh Really?"

"Yeah, really." I replied, placing my lips onto hers. Closing my eyes, I felt my mind shut down completely as I kissed her, feeling something strange rise in me. It sort of felt like hunger, I suppose. I pulled her closer, kissing her more passionately and almost entering her mouth with my tongue when the least expected, and most dreaded thing happened.

"So _this_ is what you two do when I'm gone!" An older voice exclaimed, causing my brain to immediately switch back on.

We pulled apart, staring off in opposite directions, breathing heavily and responding, "Um..."

Selphie's mom laughed, flipping some of her hair behind her shoulder as she began to walk away, "I'll leave you two alone now."

Feeling the heat beginning to rise in my face, I shot a glance at Kairi before turning away again, _'What was that feeling...?'_ I glanced at the red head again, _'Do I...do I __want__ her?'_

My eye twitched slightly. That was so strange to think of. A couple of months ago we were just friends, and now I was thinking... _'Perv.'_ My own voice commented subconsciously in my head. '_Shut up_!' I mentally answered myself.

"This is…awkward." Kairi finally spoke, breaking the silence.

"Yup." I answered simply, kicking at the floor absently minded as I asked, "We're going back home today, aren't we?"

She blinked for a moment, replying, "Yeah, I guess we are."

Hearing the patter of rain echo through out the house, I stared up at the skylight to see the gray sky and the drops that fell from it, "Heh, of course it rains on our last day here."

"That's destiny for you." She answered, staring up at the window with a dazed look.

"And does destiny want us to be together, always?" I asked with a grin, poking her in the side causing her to jump a little

She laughed, "I dunno!"

**"**OH MY _GOD!_"A shout echoed from upstairs.

I flinched and turned to Kairi, "Evidentially Selphie just got the news about what we were doing from her mom."

"I guess so," She shook her head and began to laugh, "It's amazing how much they're alike, Selphie and her mom."

"Yeah." I nodded, glancing at the stairs repeatedly, waiting for our brunette friend to come rushing down; perhaps dragging Tidus with her.

"You know, you're kinda a lot like your mom." She stated, scratching her head as if in thought.

I blinked and stared at her with a confused expression, "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Kairi laughed at my reaction, "You are, whether you like it or not."

"If you say so." I replied, closing my eyes and folding my arms behind my head.

"I wins, you loose!" The red-head exclaimed, sticking out her tongue.

"No, actually I win." Selphie's voice caused us both to divert our gazes to her.

"Wha?" I tilted my head and stared at her.

She smirked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and pacing, "My mom just told me what she saw when she got home."

"Yeah, but why does that make you win? You know what you wanna do with Tidus now, or what?" I retorted with a grin, knowing it would set her off. She did it to me before, so now I would do it to her. It was plain and simple revenge.

"W-_what?_" Selphie exclaimed, her cheeks starting to glow a light pink.

"Selphie, oh my god, you're blushing!" Kairi exclaimed, pointing her finger towards the younger girls face.

"I-I'm not!" She answered, shoving Kairi's hand away and crossing her arms with a frown.

"And stuttering." I added with a growing smirk as I stood up.

"Remind me why I came down here..." She sighed angrily, storming back upstairs.

I gave a small laugh, hearing her scream, "_NOTHING!"_ At Tidus when he asked why she was yelling.

Kairi gave a small, yet stressed smile, "D'you think we should have done that?"

I gave a soft smile and stroked her hair, "She'll be fine. Besides, she use to do the same thing to us; she should have expected it."

"I guess you're right." She responded before stretching out her arms in a yawn and rubbing her eyes.

"Tired?" I asked in a soft tone.

With a sheepish smile, she answered quietly, "A little..."

I bent down and lifted Kairi off her feet, "C'mon, then."

She made no attempt to escape, but stared at me questioningly, "Sora, what are you doing?"

"Taking you to your room," I answered as I began up the stairs, moving slower than usual because of the extra weight, "Ow. You know, you look a lot lighter than you really are."

"Thank you...?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow. I laughed and gave a nod, taking a right turn into her room.

"Hold on for a sec," I said as I pulled the covers back on her bed, laying her down, "There you go."

She smiled sleepily and replied, "Thanks."

"No problem." I smiled, pulling the covers back up for her. I brushed the back of my hand against her cheek before standing up and walking out of the room. Taking one last glance at Kairi, I quietly shut the door, turning my head into the next room to see Tidus staring out the window, watching the rain.

"What 'cha thinking about?" I asked loudly, causing the blonde to jump.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing..." He answered in what sounded like a nervous tone.

I took a step farther into the room, "You sure?"

He glanced around the room and his eyes lingered at the door, "Fine. Close the door if you want me to tell you."

"Okay." I replied, closing the door and walking back to him.

"Don't laugh, okay?" Tidus asked, a defensive glare already set upon his face.

"I swear I will not laugh." I answered with a serious tone and a nod, my brunette spikes blocking half my view in the process.

"Well, I really like Selphie..." He trailed off quietly, looking at the floor as a soft pink color painted across his face.

I grinned widely, exclaiming, "I _knew_ it!"

"Shh!" He placed his hand over my mouth, "Don't say anything to her! Or Kairi."

I laughed, pushing his hand away, "I won't, I won't. Look, I'm not sure, but I think she likes you back."

Tidus's face brightened, "Seriously?"

I nodded, "Like I said, I'm not sure, but I think so."

"Thanks, Sora!" He exclaimed as I began to get up.

"Yeah, no problem." I answered, opening the door and beginning down the hall to my own room.

'_I can't believe this is our last day here...'_ I mentally said to myself with a sigh, walking into my room, or at least the room I was staying in, '_Great...A long car ride, my favorite.'_

_XXX_

We were halfway through the trip; there being was a very long, awkward silence that had lingered the whole time that was seriously starting to bother me.

"Sora?" Selphie's mom called from the front seat.

"Mhmm?" I looked up. _'Yes! Finally, some one speaks!'_

"Your Mom's business called her away for the week, so you're going to have to stay with us."

"Oh. Yeah. Thanks!" I exclaimed, my heart doing a flip. _'Another week with Kairi.'_ Evidentially I was grinning too much, causing Selphie's mom to laugh. I flushed, looking out the window to avoid the various glances that I could feel upon me. I felt a light tap and turned, blinking so that I felt a kiss on my cheek but when I opened my eyes I saw that Kairi was distanced away from me, smiling.

I blinked, and stared at her with a confused smile, "Thanks, but…Wha?"

Kairi giggled, wrapping both of her arms around one of mine, "Nothing."

I laid my head on hers, taking in the sweet scent of coconut and whispering, "You know; you're really weird some times."

"So?" She grinned as she looked up at me, "Seems like you like it."

I smirked as I stared back at her, "And if I do?"

Kairi shook her head into my shoulder and laughed, "I dunno."

"Then don't complain when I say you're weird, cuz it's a compliment." I stated with a laugh, feeling my eyelids start to become heavy.

**XXX**

"Holy crap! We have school tomorrow, nooo!" I complained as I lightly banged my head against the wall a few times for dramatic effect.

Giving a disapproving stare, she ordered, "Hey, stop that." Watching me turn around and lean against the wall, she added, "And yeah, we do."

"I don't wanna go back!" I pouted, sliding down the wall with a sigh.

Selphie rolled her eyes and flicked a spike of my hair, "Oh c'mon, Sora. You'll live. It's not that bad…Besides the work."

"That's the main part of school, Selphie." I answered with a roll of my eyes.

"Wel, we'll see Riku again." Kairi added, trying to add positivity to the situation.

I frowned a bit, "But that means Ryou, too."

"Oh…" She lightly bit her bottom lip, "I almost forgot…about what happened…"

Selphie glanced between our worried expressions and exclaimed, "Huh? _What _happened?" I turned my head to Kairi, her eyes horrified and vigorously shaking her head.

"It's…nothing, Selph." I answered, a strain in my voice knowing that we were keeping something from our friend. _'But then again, __I__ shouldn't even know…I put us all in danger by getting Kairi to tell me.'_ I told myself with a sigh.

"We'll tell you eventually, alright?" Kairi answered our younger friend, her face still etched with fear, "Just…not right now."

The brunette frowned, squinting her eyes at both of us before sighing, "Alright…" giving a yawn, Selphie began up the stairs, "Well, I'm going to bed."

"Yeah, right behind you." I answered, grabbing Kairi's hand and following Selphie up the stairs. After seeing Selphie retreat into her room and shutting the door, I pulled Kairi into her room.

"I'm sorry." I spoke in a whisper, gently closing the door.

She stared, confused, "For what?"

"For making you tell me what Ryou did; I didn't realize how much danger it put you in. If I knew…I wouldn't have asked." I answered quietly, guilty of my curiosity. But could I really help that I cared about her so much that I needed to know what was going on?

"I would have told you eventually…" She answered with a small grin upon her face.

"What are you grinning about?" I asked, a slightly loud laugh escaping from my lips, causing me to cover my mouth as a reflex.

"Cuz you care about me so much." The red-head answered quietly, twiddling with her thumbs, "I didn't think anyone would ever care for me that much…"

I beamed, not expecting her to give such an answer. "Well, I do. And I swear I'll die before I let Ryou lay a finger on you again." I whispered into Kairi's ear, pulling her into a tight embrace and lifting her slightly upwards as I stood up, pulling us both backwards onto the bed.

Letting out a yawn, Kairi finally asked, "Are you staying in here?"

"Well, now that you _suggested_ it…" I trailed off into a laugh, giving her the 'puppy dog' look.

"Alright, alright." She answered giggling, pulling herself out from my grasp and lying down.

Blinking, I shrugged and fell backwards only to hit my head on a hard mattress, "Ow…Kairi, you have the only pillow."

"We can share," She replied sliding half of the pillow towards me, grinning as she commented, "Just don't drool on it, okay?"

I only smiled and rolled my eyes, "What's there to drool about if I have you right here?"

She only flashed a sheepish smile before shivering and complaining, "Ah, it's cold."

I somewhat wondered if she was actually cold or not, but either way I did not ignore the chance to wrap an arm around her and pull her closer, muttering, "Lemme fix that."


	14. Everytime We Touch

**I liked my old disclaimer so I decided to keep it lol. Aw my Sora-kins, I miss him. I just have to finish writing chapter eight of Waltz of the Damned and then I'll be back to writing him lol. Anyways, here's another lovely chapter; yay.**

**Sora's comment that makes Kairi go all spazzy isn't even that suggestive, but I couldn't think of anything else to put there. So please excuse her for her weirdness XD.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts in any way. Although I seriously wish I could. But I raid eBay for as much KH merchandise as I can. Haha.**

Chapter Fourteen

XXX

"You okay?" I asked as I waved my hand in front of Kairi's face. She had been dazed out ever since we started walking towards the school. I really could not tell if she was worried about Ryou, or just plain and simple dazed out.

"Kairi!" Selphie yelled into her ear, causing her to flinch.

Kairi glanced between the two of us and blinked, "H-huh?"

"We've been trying to get your attention for forever!" Selphie whined, crossing her arms to add to her light glare.

Kairi only laughed and replied, "Sorry, I was spaced out."

"Yeah, we noticed." I answered as I turned to her, staring her straight in the eyes to try and find out if she worried or not, "Thinking about anything in particular?"

She frowned for a split second before quickly replacing it with a smile, "Nope! Just, nothing…"

'_I knew it! She __is__ worried…'_ I exclaimed in my head, '_I'll just have to make sure that Ryou doesn't come anywhere close to her. I'm gonna have to ask some of my friends to watch her too since I don't have every class with her…Man, she's gonna hate me if she finds out.'_

"We're kinda late," Selphie pointed out as the school came into view, mobs of students already cramming themselves through the doorway.

"I better get going then," Kairi walked ahead of us, turning around and waving, "Bye!"

"Wait!" I exclaimed before running in front of her to stop her, wrapping my arms around her waist after fumbling with her backpack which was in the way, "I love you."

My top three reasons for doing that: One, 'cause I could; Two, it might help her be a little less worried; Three, it just _might_ save me later on if she finds out about me getting people to watch her.

"I love you too, but I really need to go." She gave a soft laugh, escaping my grasp and entering the school, "Bye Sora, bye Selphie!"

"Yeah, see you in theater, Selphie." I added on as I slowly made my way to my homeroom.

"Sora! D'you see the game last night?" A curly haired brunette exclaimed as soon as I entered the room, causing me to slightly jump in surprise.

"Uh…What game?" I was so caught up in spring break and every thing else, any _games_ that were possibly on remained a blank in my mind for the whole week.

"The hockey game, man!" Jake exclaimed, raising an eyebrow at my 'forgetfulness'.

Suddenly filled with enthusiasm I asked, "Oh, nope. Who'd we play? Did we win?"

"New York, we won five to two," Jake pulled out a ticket from his pocket and held it in front of my face, "I had lower level seats! It was awesome…"

"I bet." I answered with a mock glare, but then smirked, "But the third row seats I had a few weeks ago were probably even better."

"What are you two going on about?" Amy inquired as she ran a brush through her auburn hair, walking over to us.

"Just hockey," I answered with a shrug, "Oh! Amy, you have science with Kairi, right?"

The redhead blinked and raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, why?"

"Don't tell her I told you but, Ryou's been messing with her lately and…I'm really worried. Can you just, keep an eye on her and make sure he doesn't try anything?"

"Aww, that's so sweet! Of course I will!" She replied with a grin, setting her binder down and taking her place at the desk in front of me.

I gave a sigh of relief, "Thanks…now I just need to find some one in her math class."

"I have it with her. I can do it." Jake suggested with a slight shrug.

"Seriously? Thanks a lot, guys. I owe you big time." I replied with a grin, the bell ringing and signaling us all to exit homeroom.

"How about those third row tickets?" Jake called down from the end of the hall.

"I'm not rich, Jake!" I answered with a laugh.

I reached the end of the hall, poking my head through the door to see if Kairi and Selphie were there yet, which they were not. I shrugged, guessing I was just early and moved away from the doorframe so that other people did not shove me into the room. Mrs. Mattox finally called me in, about to shut the door; I walking in just as the bell rang.

'_Where are they?_' My mind asked desperately, '_Obviously they're together so nothing will happen…right?'_

Mrs. Mattox began with her babbling, making the time Selphie and Kairi were not there seem even _longer_. I was seriously considering raising my hand, saying that I had to go to the bathroom and really go look for the two until they _finally_ walked through the door.

"Sorry Mrs. Mattox," Kairi gave an apologetic smile to the glaring teacher, "Selphie's locker was jammed."

"…Alright, but next time you're late it counts as a tardy." Mrs. Mattox answered with a sigh, running a hand through her gray hair.

"Yes, Ma'am." Selphie answered, grabbing Kairi by the wrist and pulling her towards their desks, to the right of me.

I glanced at Ryou, expecting him to watch Kairi as Selphie dragged her to her seat, but he did not even slightly raise his head. I shrugged it off, turning to my other side to greet the two girls. I gave a grin as the red-head gave an exhausted sigh, "You're late."

"Yeah, I know…" She answered, laying her head down on the desk, the younger girl miming her.

I squinted my eyes at them through my brunette bangs, "Is it really that hard to open a locker?"

"Yes." They both groaned in response.

"Uh…If you say so." I answered in reply, an eyebrow still arched at the two before I randomly asked, "Hey, isn't that fair this weekend?"

Kairi raised her head, her eyes locked onto mine, "Yeah…why?"

"'Cuz I--" I started before Selphie gave somewhat of a groaning sound.

"Do you even have to _ask_, Kairi?" The brunette gave a roll of her emerald eyes, "He's gonna ask you out."

I gave a slight pout, muttering, "Selphie, you ruin all the fun."

Kairi let out a quiet giggle, suggesting, "Hey, you should ask Tidus if he wants to go."

"Yeah, he'd like that." I added, remembering our conversation at the beach.

"Okay!" Selphie exclaimed excitedly, then blushed, correcting herself, "Um, I mean, I guess…" Kairi and I both glanced at each other with a grin from Selphie's reaction.

"What's all the talking back here about?" Mrs. Mattox appeared in front of us, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Just asking Sora what we missed." Kairi answered, giving a sweet smile.

"…Alright." She answered, strolling back to the front of the class to continue her lecture.

I stared at Kairi, giving a small laugh, "Man, you really are amazing."

"Thanks…" She answered quietly, turning to the front of the room to focus on the teacher and not be called out again.

XXX

"Sora!" Kairi's voice called out from behind me.

I turned, bangs whipping in and out of my view, "Hey, Kai."

"Yeah..." She trailed off, squinting her eyes at me.

"...What?" I asked as I scratched the back of my head with a nervous grin.

She continued to study my expression, asking, "Did you tell Jake to watch me?"

"...Why do you ask?" I replied. It was not _technically_ lying because I did not answer yes or no.

The girl gave a sigh, continuing, "Well, Ryou grabbed my wrist and then right when he did, Jake ran into him on his skateboard. And it was just _too_ coincidental; especially since Jake was smirking after he did it."

She continued to glare at me until I finally had to come clean, "Alright, alright! I told him to. Those eyes are evil, Kai!"

She smiled triumphantly for a moment before crossing her arms and slightly glaring at me again, "Did you ask any one else?"

"Well, Amy--"

"_Sora_!"

"I was worried!" I exclaimed as I wrapped my arms around her, closing my eyes and whispering, "And it's a good thing I asked Jake, too. I'm so glad you're okay..."

"...Thanks, Sora." She answered, pulling away with a weak smile, "C'mon, we need to get into class before Ms. Wilson comes."

I started to reach out for her, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered in a quiet laugh, taking her seat.

"...Okay." I answered quietly, following her and noticing that the room was surprisingly empty. I collapsed into my seat, letting out a sigh. Boy, was this gonna be an awkward day.

XXX

It was finally the weekend _and_ time for the fair. The first date Kairi and me went on, I spent _days_ thinking of what to do and say. But this time I had nothing; zilch. I planned on just taking it as it goes, but I had a weird feeling that it was not going to work.

"So, where are we meeting with Tidus?" Kairi asked, running a brush through her crimson hair.

"He said to meet him there." Selphie answered, tapping her feet impatiently for a few more minutes before finally grabbing the brush from Kairi, "Oh, _c'mon_! Your hair's just gonna get screwed up on the rides!"

A stroke of red grazed across Kairi's face as she glanced downward, "...I-I know."

"Then let's go!" Selphie exclaimed, pulling Kairi out the door, I trailing after the two.

XXX

Once again, Selphie had found a way to stick me into another awkward situation. She managed to shove me and Kairi onto the Ferris wheel while she ran off to go and find Tidus. I did not really see the point of her getting rid of us, but I guess it was so that we would not tease her.

"Hey, Sora, look--_ah_!" Kairi began to point but flinched and yelled at the jolt from the cart moving after she had.

"It's just a ride, Kai, calm down," I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer to me and away from the side, "I won't let anything happen to you. Now, what were you trying to point at.?"

"It's Riku," Kairi answered, her head towards the side, grinning, "With a girl."

"_Wha_?" I cocked an eyebrow, leaning outward but still not letting go of Kairi, I caught a glimpse of Riku and his brunette 'date'.

"Heh, well whattaya know?" I laughed, leaning back onto my seat again. And then, the silence returned. My sapphire eyes shifted to her to the fairgrounds, back to her, to the floor, to her. I let out a sigh, leaning my head back quickly only to have it hit the metal wall, causing me to let out a loud, "Ow!" She giggled before turning her head back towards the fairgrounds below us.

'_Did Selphie have an idea how much torture I'm going through from us being alone_?' I frowned, turning to the opposite side of the cart, to make it seem like I was really looking out, _'...I can't even just put an arm around her now without wanting to kiss her; and even when I do, I just wannabe even closer to her. And it feels so wrong...After Ryou messing with her for so long, if I so much as even suggested something like THAT, she'd never trust me again. Never.'_

"Sora?" I snapped my head to her direction, "C'mon, the rides over."

"Oh...Sorry." I grinned apologetically, following her out the exit for the ride.

Beginning to walk around, searching for our friends, Kairi slipped her hand into mine and asked, "You seemed pretty zoned out. Thinking about anything in particular?" Now where had I heard that before?

"...Nah, just kinda, spaced out, I guess." I lied, giving a small smile and stuffing my free hand into my pants pocket.

"Sora, Kairi!" A familiar light-toned voice called out, causing us to turn around and face two blondes.

"Hey Naminè," Kairi smiled, then blinked at the other blonde, "...Roxas?"

"Hey! Nice to see ya, again; you too, Sora." He answered with a grin.

"Eh..." Was about all I could answer. He tries to hit on my girlfriend and then later acts like we are best friends. I mean, what the heck was that?

He gave an apologetic smile, "Oh, yeah...Sorry about that, man. But look, I've got Naminè, and she's all I could ever wish for. So, we cool?"

I paused for a moment, staring at the blonde holding out his hand before grinning and hitting his hand, "Yeah we're cool."

Kairi and Naminè' just laughed, the red-head asking, "So, you guys go to school here?"

The other girl nodded, "Yup, always have. Wonder why we've never seen each other before."

"Our school is kinda big, I guess…" I shrugged; it was the only explanation I could think of.

"Well, Naminè' needs to get home, so we probably better get going." Roxas took the other girl's hand and began to lead her away.

"See you around!" Kairi called out to the two, receiving a wave from Naminè as Roxas kept walking.

Glancing around the crowded area, the smell of fried food filling my lungs, I turned back to the redhead and suggested, "Hey, lets try and find Riku and that girl. I think her name is Lenne…Selphie and Tidus will catch up with us eventually, if they're not to _busy_."

"_Sora_!" Kairi shoved me playfully, laughing so hard she had to lean against the wall to keep from falling over, "They're only a year younger than us!"

"So, it's only a year," I placed a hand on the wall next to her head, remaining only millimeters away and whispering in a tone that _I _did not know I could pull off, "What makes Tidus any different from me?"

It remained silent for a moment before I realized how _bad_ the comment and motions I had just done actually were. Kairi's breathing was really heavy and uneasy, and clearly audible from the distance I was away from her. '_Way to go Sora. You __scared__ her, you idiot!'_ My mind yelled. If I could possibly punch myself at that moment, I would have. I moved my hand from the wall and attempted to take her hand in mine, but she flinched. I frowned, stepping several feet back. Words could not even describe how horrible I felt.

"I'm so sorry, Kai, I wasn't thinking. I didn't wanna scare you…" I apologized, my voice cracking.

She just stayed silent before walking up to me and saying only, "…Let's go."

"Okay…" I answered, unsure of what to say. It felt as if anything I could possible think of would end up all wrong.


	15. Caught in Suspension

**Time for Sora's 'inner mind struggles' as he calls them; poor kid. Oh well; it all gets better in due time, haha. I seriously think I enjoy my own writing way too much lol. I use to hate it; strange how much things can change.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KH, what a surprise. Maybe one day when I'm rich and have a lot of money.**

Chapter Fifteen

XXX

The night at the fair, as I kind of expected, did not go exactly as planned. And thanks to my screw up situation with Kairi, it was nothing less than awkward around her. I was sure that if I could find a way to show her much I really do care for her, she would trust me again. What to do to prove it to her was however completely a blank in my mind.

"Kairi?" I shook her shoulder gently, furrowing my eyebrows with a frown at her vacant expression. She was always dazed out lately, it seemed.

She shook her head slightly, then answering with a grin, "Oh …Sorry."

"Yeah." I sighed, stuffing my hands into my jean pockets and staring at the floor, allowing the silence to return again. Selphie was off with Tidus somewhere, he finally managing to conjure up the nerve to finally ask her out, Riku and Lenne were in the other room doing who knows what, and then there was me and Kairi; sitting on Selphie's couch, staring out in to space, sitting two feet apart, and hardly saying a word to each other.

"Alright," I finally let out, causing her to look up. I scooted a few inches closer to her, locking my cobalt eyes on hers, "I've gone a day and a half now, but it's killing me. Please tell me what's bothering you, Kairi…I know It's mostly because I said something really stupid the other day, but I've tried so hard to make it up to you, but nothing's working. Tell me what to do, Kai; I'm so lost."

I collapsed my head into my hands, finally letting out my inner thoughts. I hated feeling like this. It made me feel like an utterly confused five year old all over again. After you think you have got everything in the world down pact, you learn something new and it all seems to be ripped out from underneath you.

"If you wanna know the truth, Sora, I don't even really know…" I lifted my head up again, noticing a tear beginning to stream down her cheek.

"Hey, don't cry! It's not your fault; I was just really confused. You have to remember I am a guy and we never get what's going through you girl's heads. It's not your fault at all, it's mine." I wiped the tear away with my thumb, my statement making laugh.

"You always seem to come up with the perfect lines, but I still feel bad…"

"Uh, I practice everyday…? And you don't need to," I answered, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, letting my hand 'accidentally' brush against her face once I pulled it back.

She laughed, laying her head on to my shoulder, "Still, I'm sorry…I think I've been acting really immature."

"No way! It's me who's immature. If I ever say anything stupid like that again, just whack me upside the head; that always knocks some sense into me." I answered, tilting my head against hers.

Stifling a giggle, Kairi answered, "When have you ever had any sense?"

"Hey, that's not nice!" I exclaimed, lifting my head up and poking her shoulder.

She shoved my hand away with a laugh, "That's the point!"

"It is, huh?" I asked with a grin, leaning forward and beginning to tickle her sides.

Kairi squirmed, letting out uncontrollable laughter, "Not—the—tick—hah—ling—heh…Stop!"

"Kay," I let go of her, allowing her a few moments to catch her breath before kissing her gently on the lips, "I love you, and don't you ever forget it."

She smiled, "I won't; and I love you, too."

Remaining only mere inches away from her still, I whispered, "You do remember my mom comes back today, right?"

"Huh?" She squinted her eyes for a moment before exclaiming, "Oh!…Um, no. Actually, I forgot. I kinda forgot she left since I've gotten use to being around you so much."

"That a bad thing?" I asked, giving a mischievous grin and putting my head so close to hers my bangs were against her forehead.

She laughed, shoving me off and beginning to sit up, which was kind of impossible to do on the white leather couch since it was so squishy, "It would have been if we got on each other's nerves."

"Aww, you'd never get on my nerves!" I replied in protest, causing her to give off a small fit of giggles.

Kairi shook her head, still laughing, "You say that, but I seriously doubt it."

I tilted my head and faked a pout, "Does twat mean I get on Kaiwi's newrves?"

"N-no!" She burst into laughter at my attempt of a little kid's voice, "Don't do that; it's too weird!"

"Weiwd? Kaiwi thinks I'm weiwd! Wah!" I finally cracked up at my own effort. I truly sounded like a retard, but at least it was making her laugh. That was all I could ever ask for; to make her happy.

"…Riku, what's wrong with him?" I stopped laughing, looking behind the couch to see Lenne giving Riku a slightly distressed look.

He just shook his head with a laugh, "Don't even bothering asking me, I don't even think Sora knows the answer to that, himself."

I frowned, exclaiming, "_Hey!_"

The older teen just smirked, attempting to ruffle my hair until I shoved his hand away, "Well I'm gonna take Lenne home and then go home myself, because…you know my parents."

Lenne raised an eyebrow at him before I quickly stated, "They're really strict."

"Oh." She replied, biting her lip slightly, totally unaware of what we really meant by _strict_, "Let's get going then; I don't want to get you in trouble."

Riku smiled, thanking her and waving back to us, "Bye."

"Bye." We both answered simultaneously, watching the door close behind them.

"Right…So, what are we gonna do now?" I asked in a sigh, throwing my head back against the couch.

Kairi's lips tugged upward into a grin, she beginning to lean forward and I immediately understood her actions. I smirked at her, and I was _really_ glad the awkwardness had passed as I began to lean forward myself. I was less than a _fraction_ of a millimeter away from a make-out session until—

_**BRING!**_

That moment I realized how much I hated doorbells. Squinting my eyes as to wonder who interrupted us, I got up from the couch with a loud and obvious groan, a laugh exiting from the redhead.

I then smiled myself, unlocking the door and slowly pulling it open, "Hello--" I greeted somewhat rudely, cutting myself off after recognizing the older woman, "…_Mom_?"

"Yep! Hi, honey!" She answered, wrapping her arms around me into a 'bear-hug' which I returned with a very small and awkward one.

She tuned to Kairi, who had been glancing the room as if uncertain what to do, "Hi, Kairi. How've you been?"

She blinked, answering, "O-oh, good."

"You kept Sora in check for the last two weeks, I suppose?" My mom asked with a wink, ruffling my hair and earning a frown from me and a blush from Kairi, "Oh, I'm just _kidding_, Sora. I know you know better than that."

I gave a forced smile, "…Yeah."

My mom glanced at the clock above Selphie's fireplace and stated, "Well, I guess it's about time to be headin' home."

"But then Kairi would be here all alone--" I started before Selphie's mom just happened to pop through the front door at that very moment, "…Oh…Never mind…"

Selphie's mom plopped her groceries onto the kitchen counter and re-entered the room, cooing, "Aww! Leaving already, Sora?"

The fake-grin still plastered to my face, I scratched the back of my neck, "Ah ha, yeah."

While the two older women became lost in their meaningless chatter, I slipped behind them to say goodbye to Kairi.

"Hey, we have our exams tomorrow and the next day, right?" I asked with a tilt of my spiky head, stuffing my hands into my pockets hastily.

"Yeah, then we're finished." She replied excitedly; obviously about summer, not the exams.

I took a hand out of my pocket and placed it against the wall, "So, I won't really see you till school's out tomorrow then?"

"Guess not." She shrugged with a small grin forming at her lips; she could obviously guess what was coming.

I quickly gave her a peck on the lips before turning around and saying, "See ya tomorrow."

It was not like I cared about my mom seeing me kiss Kairi; it was just that the teasing that would ensue afterward was pure torture.

Mom saw my impatient stare and brought her conversation to an abrupt stop, "Guess we'd better be going. See you around, Hannah!"

Finally, I completely turned and walked out the door against my will, to stare at my parent expectantly; feeling a little restless knowing what was to come from her.

"So what were you two so deep in conversation about, huh?" I asked as we walked out to the car.

My mom winked as she opened the door of the driver's side, "You and Kairi, of course."

"_Great_…" I answered in somewhat of a groan, getting into the car from the opposite side.

"Aw, it's nothing to be embarrassed about, Sora! It's normal for parents to be this way…It seems like just yesterday you were still in diapers, and now you've got a girlfriend and before you know it you're going to be married and have kids and be in the same situation as I am." Mom ranted, and amazingly it made sense to me.

I scratched the back of my neck nervously, "Wow; talk about awkward, Mom. All that stuff is so far off…"

She gave a soft smile, "It may seem like that, but it's a whole lot closer than you think."

I glanced around the car before giving a nervous smile and answering, "I guess you're right…" It was true. After the exams tomorrow, I only had two more years of high school; then it was off to college with me. '_Two years away; wow…' _College still seemed like such a foreign word.

Mom ruffled my hair, I making no attempt to stop her, parking the car in our driveway and shutting it off. As she took her keys out of the ignition, she stated, "I'm gonna start cooking dinner."

"Okay." I muttered in reply, following her up the front porch steps and into the house. Heading up the stairs, I stated, "I'll just be in my room. Try and catch a nap, I guess."

"Mkay." She answered, heading into the kitchen and out of view while I continued up the stairs. I plopped myself down onto my bed, closing my eyes; but I knew there was no way that I could possibly sleep with so many thoughts running through my head. Especially after that whole 'growing up' talk with my mom; that really hit me hard.

I finally realized that I was not a kid anymore. I mean, of course I knew _that_, but now I could not make a stupid mistake and just say 'Oops'. Now everything I did reflected the rest of my life, some way, some how. Especially right now; _now _that every time I was with Kairi I felt like I was going to burst from the need to be closer to her. But now, I started to really, _really, _think about it. If we actually did get that far one day, if I got her pregnant…

My eyes widened, '_Man, does that sound weird…'_

It was not like I could say 'sorry' and rewind everything. Then it would all be my fault for ruining everything she had ahead of her; and I would not only destroy her plans, but my own too. It was not like we would not be good parents, or I wouldn't be there for her if it _did_ happen, but with all the stress of high school, we definitely did not need another human to worry about other than ourselves at this age. All that stress, _plus_ all the nasty rumors that would be going around.

Kairi had already been through enough in her life; the last thing she needed was all of _that._

Then, with Mom's mention of marriage, it made me wonder. Would Kairi even be the one I was with when it came time to get married, have kids, and blah blah blah? I wanted her to be, and it seemed like she would be; and it did not help that everyone else made it seem that way, too. But how many high school relationships actually last? Like two percent?

I squinted my eyes, muttering, "I'm thinking too much…"

"Sora, dinner's ready!" My mom exclaimed from downstairs, causing me to jerk upwards.

"Coming!" I answered, running out of my bedroom and slamming the door shut behind me.


	16. Let's Take Our Time

**I think this chapter and the next are the only reasons why this story is rated T. Hah, oh well. Enjoy my sad attempt at trying to write something sexual, especially due to the fact that I have no experience.**

**Oh, and also excuse my obsession for hockey XD I like to let it show through Sora, Tidus, and Jake.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

XXX

Summer. Just the word was enough to bring a smile to my face. Of course I took advantage of the beautiful weather as soon as we got out of school. Strangely enough, _all_ of my friends lived in my neighborhood, or at least a walking distance from it. So whenever the weather was really nice we would get together and play street hockey; even Kairi did sometimes. However, Selphie did not really see the fun in it; to her it was just fighting on skates. I asked Kairi if she wanted to come this morning, but she just felt like lying around the house and being lazy. Turns out, so did almost every one else. In the end it was just Tidus, Jake, and me; but we did not have a problem with that.

"So, got any plans for the summer yet?" Jake asked, already up and skating around while I was still fumbling with my skates.

"I bet he does with Kairi." Tidus answered from the goal with a snicker.

I rolled my cobalt eyes, skates on properly, and skated over to him, "Yeah, probably. But it's not like I can't say the same of you and Selphie." Tidus said nothing, though I did catch a glance of his tomato-shaded face before he pulled his goalie mask over his face to hide it. "How about you, Jake? Got any plans?" I asked turning to the curly haired brunette.

He shook his head, passing the puck back and forth absentmindedly, "Nope."

"Guess we'll be out here everyday, then?" I asked with a smirk, receiving a chuckle from Tidus and a confident grin from Jake.

"You bet!" He answered, passing the puck to me, "C'mon, let's get this game started!" Merely nodding, I slammed the puck right by Tidus' head for a short-handed goal.

He looked side to side as if he had not comprehended what just happened. Lifting up his mask, he frowned, "Hey! No goal; you can't start without giving me a chance to get ready."

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes and Tidus threw the puck in Jake's direction, pulling down his mask again. I tried to get it back, but only tripped over Jake's stick in the process. Catching my balance I glanced to the goal, Tidus blocking the shot and hitting it out again only to have it rebounded into the net.

I tilted my head slightly, "Having a bad day, Tidus?"

He just shrugged, "Well, we haven't played in forever. I guess I'm rusty."

"A good excuse," Jake nodded, skating up beside me. We glanced at each other and looked to Tidus, "For now." The blonde gave a nervous laugh, backing into his goal. I tapped the puck in front of me, hitting it forward to have it stolen by Jake. Dashing forward, I stole it back and hit it right below Tidus' glove.

I shook my head, "Man, Tidus you're letting _everything_ by today. I think we should wait until you get your game back. There's no point in winning a game when everything gets through the goal…"

"Guess you're right." He answered taking off the goalie mask and holding it under his arm.

"Eh, after we put the goal back in your garage, I'm gonna head home." I stated, skating over to the goal and starting to detach it into its separate pieces.

"Okay." Tidus and Jake answered, both picking up parts of the goal. Throwing the equipment on the floor (Tidus' garage was always trashed and no one would notice), me and Jake headed down the driveway, our houses being in the same direction, waved and called, "Bye!"

After a few minutes of the sound of wheels against the asphalt, the other brunette asked, "You sure you're not going to Kairi's--Er, Selphie's?"

"I dunno," I answered, continuing to stare down at the road, "I've kinda been over there a lot…" It was true, but I knew Kairi, Selphie, nor Selphie's mom cared about that. What I was really worried about was getting into another awkward situation with Kairi like I had at the fair by trying to go to far, or at least merely suggesting it.

You would think that with Selphie and her mom being there would stop any urges, but it did not feel like I could control anything I did lately.

Jake skated in front of me, then skated backwards to stare at my face, trying to read the emotions, "Dude, what's up? You look like you're dead inside. Did you and Kairi get in a fight or something?"

"No! No, nothing like that," I gave a small, forced smile, continuing with a sigh, "I really don't know what's wrong with me."

He squinted his eyes in a way that said 'Oh, I'm sorry…' and shrugged, turning around and skating back to my side, "Hmm…"

"Yeah…I dunno…But your house is right there." I laughed as Jake raised an eyebrow and exclaimed a '_Gah_!' skidding to a halt.

"See you later, man!" Jake gave a slight wave, skating up his driveway. I raised my hand in a half-attempt to wave and continued moving forward. Knowing Selphie's house was close, I deliberately stared at the opposite side of the road as to not be tempted to see Kairi. Giving a sigh of relief, I passed by Amy's house, who I knew lived across from Selphie.

"Sora!" I flinched and slowly turned around, seeing Kairi in the front yard of Selphie's house.

"H-hey, Kai." I answered as I skated back towards the house.

The redhead gave a giggle at my stuttering, "Did I scare you?"

I smiled, only because she did. Running my fingers through my bangs, I answered, "A bit…"

"Sorry," She laughed again then tilted her head with a sincere stare as she began to talk again, "I just wanted to get your attention since I haven't really talked to you much today."

"Yeah…" I trailed off, rolling my skates back and forth; watching them as if they were the ones talking to me. If only they were.

Kairi frowned a bit, making me realize she was probably expecting me to come up with one my perfect lines, like something around the lines of 'let's change that'. I eyed my surroundings as if pleading for something to tell me what to say. Eventually, I finally gave up.

"I'm gonna head home, okay?" I asked my eyes full of concern for her, for me; for _us_. I just wished she could have read my mind and seen how I was wishing that things could be the way they were before; back when they were simple.

"Oh," Her frown deepened, her voice almost squeaking in disappointment, "O-okay."

It hurt seeing her like that. My _own_ voice almost cracked in my response, "Um…I'll call you later…"

Her face brightened somewhat, "Okay." I almost managed to turn all the way around before she added, "I love you."

'…_I __want__ you.'_

"…I love you, too."

Kairi's lips parted as if she was going to say something else, but I had already started on my way.

XXX

'_I can't live like this anymore!' _I screamed in my mind. Mom had gone grocery shopping so I had the house all to myself. I thought that being alone would help, but all it did was drive me twice as insane. Kairi had been calling me continuously the past few days and I had not been answering. It was anything but the best approach, but it was the only thing that I could think of. I was trying to convince myself less time with her would help, but in the back of my mind I knew that the longer I went without her the more I would need her.

The doorbell rang from the front of the house, interrupting my thoughts. Knowing it was most likely Kairi, I quietly slipped out the back door and made my way to the gazebo we had in the back yard so I could have my peace and quiet.

…Only to find her there.

My sapphire eyes widened, "Kai—but who…?"

"Riku." She answered in a small tone, staring at the ground as opposed to facing me.

"Oh," I replied, sitting down next to her; still receiving not even the smallest glance. Letting out a loud sigh, I began my apology, "…Kairi, listen. I love you with all my heart, and don't even _ever_ doubt that, okay? It's just…Ugh, I don't know how to say this…"

"Sora," She grabbed my hand with her own and just the warmth from her hand sent a shiver down my spine. I felt stupid having her stare at me like it was a life or death situation and I was over-reacting over just her _hand_, "It's me. You know I won't judge what you say…"

"But--" I started, only to have her interrupt again.

"_Sora_."

I opened my mouth to start talking before the pounding of the rain on the gazebo's roof startled me. Droplets started drizzling down the edges, the open sides giving us a perfect view of a waterfall effect. '_Great_…' I shook my head, giving another loud and obvious sigh. Kairi stood up, placing her hand on my shoulder, and staring into my eyes with concern.

I opened my mouth to speak again, but found my lips caressing hers instead. She pulled away thinking the kiss was meant to be short, only to have me pull her right back for another kiss; twice as passionate and demanding entrance pass her lips. She obliged hesitantly, not knowing where I was going with this. She was probably expecting just a simple reason and apology for my weird behavior; not this. But this was so much easier than me trying to possibly explain what I was feeling, and it would hopefully be twice as effective; as long as I could stop myself before I went too far.

Kairi made a small noise of surprise, her back against a support beam. Ignoring the rain pounding down on me, but certainly not ignoring the way it made Kairi's hair and clothes plaster against her body, my lips glided away from hers, slowly making their way down her neck. She ran her hands through my hair until I reached her collarbone. Evidentially hitting 'the spot', she gasped and arched up to me, whether she meant to or not. Smirking, I returned to her lips, grinding against her. Kairi's hands moved downward, beginning to lift up my shirt before the word, "_STOP_!" finally registered in my mind.

I took both her hands with my own and distanced myself from her before breathlessly starting, "…T-that's why I've been avoiding you. I-I just lose control. And I know after Ryou--"

"I'm the same way." She interrupted.

"_What?_" I almost yelled. After that incident at the fair, how scared her face looked; there was no way.

"Were you not paying attention the past few minutes?" Kairi laughed, putting an arm around my neck then whispering into my ear, "I want you just as bad."

I gulped, fighting to keep sane, "But…the fair…"

"Easy. I didn't know if you were joking or not…If I went with it and you weren't really serious you might have thought I was like, weird or something," She paused with a laugh, then continuing, "But if I didn't go with it I figured you would be disappointed. So in short, I freaked out."

"…So basically the past few weeks of endless battles in my own head were for nothing?" I raised an eyebrow, staring down at the redhead.

Kairi giggled, "Guess so. Sorry."

Silence.

"…You know, we're still too young."

"Yeah." She answered in almost a sigh.

"That's right! Remember kids, no love without the glove." I turned scarlet at the small square package held in front of my face by pale hands.

"_Riku_!" I choked on my own spit, going into a coughing fit. Finally I was able to ask, "_Why _do you have that? And how long have you been there?"

"Long enough," The older teen pocketed what he had referred to as 'the glove', "And do you have to ask? I figured that was pretty much self-explanatory."

I stared at him questioningly, finally laughing, "Wow…What's happened to you since first grade?"

"Things." He replied suggestively, eyes darting to random directions to add effect to his statement. Kairi and I burst into laughter, only to cease it from hearing a high pitched voice calling out our names.

"Hey, Selph!" Kairi yelled to the brunette, she waving back.

"I was wondering where everyone was." Selphie laughed, slowing her pace. However quicker than any of us could do anything, Ryou emerged from the bushes and snatched Selphie up into his arms.

"Kairi comes with me now," He dug in his pants pocket as he spoke, pulling out a box cutter and holding it to her neck, "Or the girl dies." I glared and said nothing, knowing there was literally no way out of the situation without hurting some one.

"…Alright." Kairi answered in a whisper.

"_Kairi_!" I yelled out in disbelief. She knew what he was going to do with her once they left. '_There has to be another way…There just has to be…'_

"I don't have any other _choice_, Sora. We can't do _anything…He wins…_" She gave a solemn look back to me, already crying her eyes out. I could only watch her step forward to Ryou. She was right; he _had_ won.

He smirked, shoving Selphie into Riku; the younger girl automatically breaking down. He then grabbed Kairi's arm, pulling her closer and holding the 'knife' at her neck to make sure that neither I nor Riku would attempt to stop him. I flinched, having to retreat my arm because Ryou only moved the knife closer to her neck to show that he was not kidding around. Seeing that I was not going to do anything, he left without another word; leaving all of us stunned by what had just happened. Not knowing what else to do at this point, I fell to all fours with clenched fists beginning to cry hysterically.

"Sora, I'm so sorry…I must have led him here…" Riku apologized, only receiving my punch at the ground and quiet sobs as an answer.


	17. I Want

**Again I must apologize if you don't like hockey; there's a lot of it in this chapter towards the end lol. The conversations during it are pretty amusing, so I hope that makes up for it if you absolutely hate hockey? Here's the edited version of chapter 17.**

**Oh and sorry for the emo stereotype; Sora's mad and just babbling random things.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that's trademarked/copyrighted in this story.**

Shattered Dreams: Chapter Seventeen

XXX

_Bring!_ I stared at the phone in a dazed fashion. Riku repeating a glance from me to the phone, he quickly decided to answer it himself. "…Hello?" The older teen answered into the phone. Aquamarine eyes widening after a few seconds, he turned to me, "Sora?" I grunted, which he took as a '_what?_' and handed me the phone.

"_Sora_…?" A quiet voice whimpered on the other line.

My mind immediately snapped back on, and I exclaimed into the phone, "_Kairi_! Are you okay? Where are you? He hasn't done anything to you, right?" I spoke so fast I don't even know if I understood myself.

"He hasn't…Yet, but he left for a couple of minutes, and I don't know where he is and when he's coming back…I'm so scared, Sora…"

My voice caught in my throat, "…I-I know. Kairi, I don't know what to do. If I come after you, he could kill you. But if I don't, you get hurt either way…"

Kairi paused, eventually deciding on saying, "…It's not your fault, Sora."

I wanted to yell back that it was, but instead muttered harshly, "Then whose was it then…?"

"Ryou's." She replied loudly. I heard a, "Yeah?" answer her in the background followed by a squeak from Kairi and then the phone clicking off.

"_Kairi_!" I called out desperately into the phone, although I already knew it was too late. I gave a loud sigh, collapsing onto my bed again. Selphie and Riku gave each other a worried glance.

Standing up, she began, "Sora, I'm gonna go home and wait for Kairi to get back. I'll call you when she does."

The brunette made her way to the door before I called out her name, "Selphie, wait." She froze and turned to me questioningly. I continued, "Don't say anything to your mom…We don't know what Ryou will do at this point." Selphie nodded, her eyes shining in horror before she hurried down the stairs and out the front door. Riku's glance returned to me looking as if he was questioning my sanity. "_What_?" I blurted out, "It's not like I can really sugarcoat it, Riku."

"I know." He returned with a sigh of his own, muttering incoherently. I closed my eyes and ignored Riku's mumbles; trying to fight off the visions of what Ryou could be doing to Kairi and the feeling of ice flowing through my veins that followed after. The image of his lips crashing down on hers made me clench my fists so hard that my poor excuse for fingernails dug far enough into my skin to draw blood, although I did not notice it. All I could focus on was his hands moving across her smooth skin, and pinning her against the bed…

"_Ah_!" I inhaled sharply, the pain from my hands finally reaching my senses. I lifted my hands in front of my eyes and stared at my bleeding palms. I turned my cobalt eyes to Riku who merely gave a disapproving stare. Lifting myself up off my bed, I made my way to the bathroom to clean my cuts, rolling my eyes at the older teen once he was out of sight. He did not know how I was feeling. He could not even pretend to know for a _second_ that he knew what I was going through. I flipped the light switch to on and opened the medicine cabinet to get peroxide. Pulling a cotton ball out of a bowl by the sink, I splashed the liquid onto it and rubbed it against my palms. Wincing from the burn of it, I grabbed a roll of bandage tape and started back towards my room. Giving a last exclamation of pain, I complained, "Man, that crap burns…"

Rolling the bandage around my hand, cutting the excess off, and then repeating the same thing with my other hand, I commented, "There, see? Now I can't hurt myself, happy?"

Riku muttered, turned to my desk to pick up a pair of black finger-less gloves and then threw them at me. "Okay." I answered, picking up the gloves and slipping them over my bandaged hands, "Happy _now_?"

"Yep." He replied.

Glancing down at my black T-shirt, dark jeans, and now the gloves, I gave a sarcastic laugh, "What am I, emo or something?" Riku giving no reply, I folded my arms behind my head and stared at the ceiling and answered myself, "Then again, I might as well be right now…" Still receiving no answer, the silence caused me to eventually drift into sleep, despite the images of Ryou and Kairi that flashed in my mind and even continued into my dreams.

XXX

"Sora?" I awoke to my Mom's voice.

"Huh…?" I blinked my eyes open, feeling like I could use at least five more hours of sleep.

"Selphie called--" She started before I jumped off of the bed, yanked Riku out of the computer chair, and then made my way out the door, quickly stating, "Going to Selphie's!"

"Okay, but you're going to have to re-heat your dinner!" She called down to me, only receiving the front door slamming as her answer. Once outside, Riku started off in the opposite direction.

Whipping around, I exclaimed, "Where are _you _going?"

"Home. My parents are already going to kill me for being this late." He answered, stopping to respond but starting to walk again after he finished.

I hurried to catch up with him, starting, "But if you went there while Ryou--"

Riku interrupted, "I know. They don't care. But don't worry about me. Go to Kairi, Sora. She needs you." And with that, he ran off. I was going to go against his word and keep following him, but decided against it. He was right; right now I needed to help Kairi. I turned the other direction and ran blindly towards Selphie's house, almost getting hit by some idiot in an SUV who was not paying attention on my way.

Finally making it to her house, I tapped my knuckle against the door, yelling, "Selphie, it's me! Open the door!" Hearing the locks turn from the other side of the door, I gave a long sigh of relief.

I gave a worried stare to the brunette as she appeared, she answering, "C'mon, she's in the living room." I quickly advanced forward into the house as Selphie lingered for a moment to lock the door again.

"Kairi," I kneeled down in front of where she was sitting on the couch, examining her usually perfect hair to be in mangles and her eyes bloodshot, "…What did he do to you?"

Kairi parted her lips before burying her face into a pillow and crying out something that I couldn't distinguish more than, "Mmph mmphed umph."

Leaning closer to her head, I stated, "Kairi, I can't hear you through the pillow…"

The red head gave a loud sigh, barely lifting her head up to mutter, "_He raped me._"

Burying her face into the pillow again, she gave a small sob. My eyes winded and my heart literally felt like it stopped beating. '_She didn't really say that, did she?'_ Hearing her cry out again, I realized this was _real_. I knew it happened to people everyday…But, _Kairi?_ It seemed so unreal.

"Kairi…" I whispered, picking myself up off the floor, attempting to wrap my arms around her before she yelled out and shoved my arms away.

"_Don't_!" She gasped, then stared at me, horrified, "Sora, I'm sor--"

I shook my head, "No, it's okay…"

"No, it's not!" Kairi yelled back, causing my eyes to widen even more and me to turn to Selphie who was obviously equally surprised judging by her expression, "I told you, Sora. I'm not letting him win. If he ever sees that I get like this, he'll only make it worse. He'll make me scared of you, and that can't happen…." I merely nodded, not knowing what I was supposed to say. My eyes followed hers as she lifted herself off the couch, and stood facing me, "Sora…?"

"Hmm?" I answered in surprise, about to open my mouth again thinking that I needed to say something.

"Kiss me." She ordered, causing my mouth to literally drop open.

"_Huh_?" I blurted out in surprise. It was not like I did not want to, but right now seemed so inappropriate.

She gave a small smile at my reaction before straightening her face and continuing, "Just do it. And no matter how hard I fight you and try to pull away, don't let me."

"Um, O-okay…" This was all too strange. Especially how she had been so straightforward in _commanding _me to do it. And judging by the way I stuttered and my face heating up, I was blushing. Shaking my head and snapping myself out of my daze, I stood up. Then slowly, and very carefully, I wrapped my arms around her waist, making sure to not freak her out. Her breathing became a litter harder, so I decided to wait a few minutes for her to relax; but Kairi did not agree with that.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked in somewhat of a laugh, her erratic breathing still very noticeable.

"Alright, alright!" I exclaimed, closing my eyes as I began to lean forward. The moment my lips touched hers, she squirmed uncomfortably, making me have to tighten my hold on her and pull her closer. Kairi gave one last squeak of disagreement before finally giving in and returning the kiss. I deepened the kiss for a short moment before pulling away.

Kairi stared at me in a way that I could obviously tell she wanted more, "Sora, why'd you stop…?"

"Well I thought I should stop after you gave in and didn't fight," I gave a nervous laugh, scratching the back of my head with one hand while the other still remained at Kairi's waist, "And Selphie probably wouldn't appreciate us making out in front of her and er…Selphie, I'm guessing and hoping your mom isn't home right now?"

"Nope, she's not." Selphie gave a light giggle.

"M'kay…" I sighed in relief. If her mom overheard us, it would most likely lead to our doom; and her own, too. I let go of Kairi and plopped backwards, not knowing how to continue the conversation or to start a new one. Kairi slowly and gingerly sat down on the couch, making me raise an eyebrow.

"Why—_Oh._" I turned scarlet and looked away from her, realizing that she was sore. I had had some pretty disturbing thoughts before, but _that…_ That definitely had to be the most personal and somewhat violating thought I had. It made it even worse to know it was because of Ryou.

"So…um. Are you gonna report to the police or anything?" I asked randomly, already knowing the question was pointless and the answer was no. After all, it was Ryou we were dealing with.

"No…We know how he'd react if I did that," Kairi's face flushed, she turning the other direction from me and Selphie, who was sitting in the armchair to the left side of me, "…And I don't think they would find anything, any way…"

Thinking for a moment before realizing what she meant and turning scarlet myself, I answered, "_Oh._"

In the back of my mind I could not help but think that Ryou and Riku actually shared one thing in common.

Selphie made a face, standing up and declaring, "_Okaay. _I'm going to bed now…"

"Night." Kairi and I answered at the same time, watching the younger brunette retreat up the stairs.

Hearing Selphie's bedroom door close, Kairi turned to me with a sheepish grin, "Um…Oops."

I laughed, my blush dying down, "Heh, yeah." After our laughter, silence lingered for a minute before I stated, "Well, I should probably head home. It's," I paused and turned to the clock on Selphie's fireplace mantel, "Nine."

Kairi did not answer so I stood up, only making it about two steps towards the door before she exclaimed, "Wait!" Turning my head around, the redhead had already stood up and began walking towards me. Collapsing against my chest, she whispered, "I'm so scared that he's going to hurt me again…I know you can't always be _right_ here with me, but stay tonight, please…"

"Yeah, I will, don't worry…" I answered in a low-tone, wrapping my arms around her and rubbing her back reassuringly.

Looking up at me, she grinned and answered, "Thank you…" Nodding, I released my hold on her for only a second, to snatch her up.

She gave a small yell in response, clinging her arms around my neck in a death grip to keep from falling, then asking, "What are you doing…?"

"Taking you upstairs." I replied simply, starting on my way, Kairi's grasp tightening as I started to walk.

"But it's only nine…" She whined, only to retrieve a roll of my eyes. Walking into her bedroom, I set her on the bed, then went back to close the door, answering, "And? What else do we have to do?" Personally, I could think of quite a few things we could do.

But that was just the hormones talking.

"Point." She answered, pulling the covers over her head.

"I'm guessing you already changed, then." I commented, catching a glance of her baggy, blue, plaid pajama pants and white tank top as I climbed into bed myself.

"Yeah. What about you, though?" She lifted the blanket from over her head and turned to me, her sapphire eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

Smiling, I answered, "I don't think you our Selphie's pajama pants would fit me…I'll live."

Giggling, she responded, "I love you, Sora."

Kissing her lips and pulling her closer to me, I answered, "I love you, too." Kairi snuggled up to me, which usually made me comfortable and made it easier to sleep, now made me feel the exact opposite. Just breathing in the sweet scent from her auburn hair was almost enough to make me lose it. '_Think about what she's just been through,'_ I repeated to myself in my head, '_Sure, she said she felt the same way. But right now thinking about her in that way while she's so vulnerable is just wrong.'_

After a few more minutes of arguing with my own mind, I finally decided on just kissing her on the cheek. It was harmless, right? Even if she was asleep; and it was touching her, too.

Just as my lips made contact with her skin, I froze at the sound of a card door slamming shut. "Oh…crap…" I whispered to myself, returning to my original position. If Selphie's Mom was like every other mom, she would open the bedroom doors and make sure that Selphie and Kairi were both okay and sleeping. And if she was normal, Kairi and I would be absolutely dead. I, for one, would be dead for not coming home, but sleeping with Kairi, too? That would be the icing on the cake for my mom's need to punish me. Due to the fact that Selphie's Mom was best friends with my own, she would probably know within the next twenty minutes.

Hearing footsteps coming up the stairs, I shut my cobalt eyes tight and anxiously awaited what would be my doom. I practically jumped out of my skin at the sound of the doorknob turning, shutting my eyes even tighter. My breathing halted as the shuffling of footsteps came followed by a gasp and a squeal of, "How _cute_!" My face burned, turning scarlet once Kairi began to move and mutter as if she was waking up.

Selphie's Mom quickly retreated, shutting the door softly. I opened my eyes, the redhead still sleeping. "Thanks, Kai." I whispered to her sleeping form.

"Sora…" She mumbled under her breath, a smile at my lips.

"Goodnight." I answered her sleep-talking; slowly, but surely, drifting into a sleep of my own.

XXX

Gnawing on a chocolate fudge toaster strudel, I stared at everyone's tired eyes. None of us had really gotten any sleep, due to Kairi's various nightmares; every hour she would wake up either screaming or sobbing. Kairi looked twice as bad as the rest of us. After the third time she had woken up, she planned to not go back to sleep so that she wouldn't wake the rest of us up anymore, but she fell back asleep despite her attempts. She finally was able to relax after a few more episodes.

Selphie's Mom had figured that it was a late reaction to her parents' deaths and did not even stop to think if it was something us, which was good for us; the less she knew, the better.

Kairi glanced around the table at our weary expressions and let out, "I'm sorry…"

Selphie's Mom immediately jumped up, placing a hand on the top of Kairi's head, "Don't worry about us, Hun. We know it's not your fault." Selphie and I simultaneously added a nod to her statement.

"It just always seems like I'm causing trouble for everyone…" The redhead added to her negativity.

"It kinda does seem like everything tragic happens to you." I stated sub-consciously, raising an eyebrow at the glares from Selphie and her mother after I said it.

"But," Selphie continued my sentence, "That doesn't mean you're burdening us, Kairi. We wouldn't be your friends if we ever complained about helping you."

Giving a half smile to all of us, she asked, "I know you won't admit it; but it does get annoying having to look over me all the time and treat me like a baby, doesn't it?"

The other two brunettes looked at each other, both about to open their mouths before I spoke, "Yes. But how much we care about you over takes our annoyance." Kairi smiled while the other two still stood gaping at me. "Hey, at least I'm honest!" I exclaimed in defense.

"But-I…" The younger girl babbled before finally giving up with a sigh.

Her mom eyed the room before deciding on saying, "I was just testing you…I'm…going to the grocery store now, bye!" She hurried out of the room and out the front door.

Kairi tilted her head and asked, "Didn't she go grocery shopping yesterday…?"

"It's just her excuse to escape," Selphie shook her head in embarrassment, "She's so weird…"

"And my mom isn't?" I asked with a roll of my eyes.

"Well they _are_ best friends," Selphie retorted.

"Point." Pushing my chair back, then jumping out of it, I turned to the two girls again, "So, what now?" They looked at each other, turned back to me, and shrugged. "Such an exciting day we're going to have," I sighed, collapsing against the wall for support.

After a few moments of silence, Selphie suggested, "I could call Tidus, see if he's doing any--"

"No, he's--" I interrupted myself, announcing with a smirk, "Playing hockey! C'mon," I grabbed Kairi's hand and pulled her out of her chair, leading her towards the door. Both of us turning around to notice Selphie was not behind us, we returned to the kitchen.

Selphie stood there, her arms crossed expectantly, staring at us with a pout, "You can't be _serious_!"

"Why not?" I exclaimed. Selphie knew all her friends play hockey or at least like it; she was going to have to come in contact with it eventually.

Kairi smiled at her gently, "C'mon, Selph. It's not like we have anything better to do."

She frowned, almost about to give up, but then blurted out, "We don't have any one to drive us!"

"Yeah, we do." I answered with a grin, opening the front door and leading only Kairi outside, "My Mom."

"Who says she'll drive you?" Selphie crossed her arms triumphantly with a grin.

"Because she always does…?" I answered with a tilt of my head, and an impatient stare towards the brunette.

She sighed, retreating back into the house, "Oh, fine. But I have to leave a note for my Mom…"

XXX

"Riku?" Selphie tilted her head, staring at the silverhaired teen that was in front of my front door.

"Oh, you guys are back." Riku answered with a smile upon his face as he turned around.

Kairi tensed up, though when I looked at her she held the same expression. Making a confused face, I stated, "Your voice sounds a little different. Are you sick or something?"

He shrugged, "My throat hurts, but that's it." Looking to the redhead, I stared at her quizzically. She shrugged, still looking a bit worried.

"So, you're okay then?" Selphie questioned, receiving a nod from the older teen, "Yes! We don't have to go Iceplex anymore!"

"The ice rink? For hockey? I wanna go." Riku spoke quickly. Selphie's eyes widened in horror, and then returned to her pouting.

"Yeah," I answered, but titled my head, "You play hockey? How come you've never played out in the street with me, Jake, and Tidus?"

Riku's eyes widened in surprise, as if he had not expected questioning, "Um…Parents."

"…Okay then." I answered, acknowledging how strange Riku was acting and that Kairi was scared. '_It can't be Ryou…Riku's probably just all wacky from medicine he took for his throat or something.'_ I assured myself mentally.

Kairi tugged gently on my sleeve, causing me to exclaim, "Oh! Um, I have to go ask my Mom to drive us…Yeah."

"Okay." Riku answered, he and Selphie tagging along behind us through the front door.

Before reaching the stairs, I stopped and turned to the other two, "You guys wait down here. The upstairs is a mess and Mom probably wouldn't like everyone seeing it. Kairi's seen it pretty much worse, so yeah. I think she's the only one Mom wouldn't care about. Sorry."

"S'okay." Riku replied, Selphie adding a nod, and they both tracked their way into the living room.

Near the top of the stairs, Kairi muttered, "Riku isn't acting right…"

"Well…yeah, but he's probably on medicine and crap, too. That might be it." I shrugged, my hand lingering over Mom's bedroom door as I turned to the redhead.

She grinned sheepishly, "I guess you're right…I'm just over paranoid."

"You have a right to be, though." I answered, turning back to the door and knocking on it.

An angry expression faced my semi-cheerful one as my mom opened the door, causing my smile to drop immediately, "Sora, what were you _thinking_? Staying at Selphie's house all night. And sleeping in the same bed as _Kairi_? I trusted you, Sora…I should ground you till you graduate from high school."

"Um…" Kairi and I started downward at our feet, clasping each other's hands and giving off a shade of pink

"…Oh, I'm just kidding!" Mom burst into a fit of laughter, receiving a death glare from both of us, "Did you seriously think you could hide that from moms? I think not!"

"Yeah, haha," I replied bitterly, "Now that you've embarrassed me to no end, could you _please_ drive us, including Selphie and Riku who are waiting downstairs, to Iceplex?"

"I guess so," She laughed still, "Lemme go change first."

Retreating out of the room, Kairi giggled quietly under her breath. "Shut up, Kairi," I laughed, "She got you, too."

XOXOXO

Kairi yelled, falling to the ice again. She complained, "Why am I so bad at this…"

"Hey, you're better than Selphie," I nodded my head towards the brunette on the other side of the rink, still attempting to get up from her last fall that was ten minutes ago.

Pulling Kairi up, she stated, "Well some of us haven't been doing this for years like you have, Mr. Hockey-player."

"It's not my fault you wouldn't come with me because you were going through your 'I-want-to-be-a-princess' phase back then." I replied sticking out my tongue, knowing how she hated when I brought up moments from so long ago.

"That's not fair! Every girl goes through that phase…" She stated with a pout, almost falling back down but grabbing onto the glass wall for support.

Feeling like saying something utterly stupid, I mocked a gasp and exclaimed, "You're a girl?"

"Now, Sora," She inched her way closer to me, lightly pressing herself against me, "How could you ever forget _that_…?"

I stared in a dazed state, attempting to open my mouth to speak but failing as I watched her skate away. Bring me back to my senses was Riku asking loudly, "When are we actually playing hockey…?"

"Now," Jake answered, who had been at the rink already practicing with Tidus when we arrived. Skating past me, he muttered, "Save that for later tonight, Sora. Geez," I laughed and shook my head, skating after him to the center of the ice; where Kairi and everyone else (besides Selphie) already were.

"So, you're actually playing today? You know, you probably should wait until we play street hockey. If you can't ice skate leisurely, then there's no way you're going to be able to rush after the puck." I stated sounding as if it was actually an option that she could play; which it was not. I did not want someone to step on her or trip over her if she fell; or shove her into the wall trying to get the puck, come to think of it.

"I'm gonna try." She nodded, receiving a hockey stick from Jake.

"Okay." I answered tonelessly, taking a stick from Jake, and cursing at myself mentally.

"Selphie!" Tidus called over to the brunette, she slowly making her way across the ice, "Since you're not really going to do much…You might as well choose the teams."

"Whee…" She replied sourly, turning towards the rest of us, "Okay. Sora and Jake versus Kairi and Riku.

My mouth hung open, "…What?"

Selphie chuckled, "I just thought it'd be funny!"

"…Just for that, Selphie, you get to be the goalie for our team." I replied curtly, giving her a tired stare. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head at my statement.

Jake threw a goalie mask to her, exclaiming, "Don't worry, you won't even see that puck; 'cept maybe going past Tidus. Oh, Sora, you got her in two ways, hah!"

I truly had not noticed I put them against each other; I just did it to annoy her. But, hey, it worked!

The random guy they made patrol the rink to make sure people did not get hurt was designated to be our referee by his employer. Which he was not too happy about, judging by the bored, zombie like expression his face.

"Ready, Riku?" I asked with a smirk as we positioned ourselves for the face-off. He scoffed, returning the smirk.

The puck dropped, Riku's stick getting to it before mine. He quickly passed it over to Kairi, who I tried to prod the puck gently away from. In a quick, fluid motion, Kairi's stick pushed into my shoulder roughly; she then speeding away. She passed it back to Riku, who, of course, got the puck past Selphie.

"Ow!" I rubbed my shoulder tenderly, exclaiming, "That's high-sticking, Kairi!…And you were faking!"

She skated back past me, winking, "Just full of surprise, huh?"

Jake skated up next to me, waving a hand in front of my face and exclaiming, "Ignore it, Sora! She's not your girlfriend for now, she's the enemy! The seductive flirting is just a part of her evil plans!"

I nodded, "Whatever…Just go face-off."

"It's true!" He exclaimed as he skated away. Rolling my eyes, I skated forward, lingering slightly off to the right side of him. Jake got the puck this time, passing it to me. Barely evading past Riku, I shot the puck back to Jake, who fired it at the net. Tidus caught it in the upper left corner.

"That's what I'm talking about!" I exclaimed, skating up to the blonde goalie, "Where was _that_ last week, huh?"

He merely shrugged, smiling through his mask, "I dunno, man. There's just something about ice."

"Whatever you say," I answered, skating around in an figure eight, waiting for the face-off to begin. Returning to the face-off circle, I was facing Kairi this time. She gave a smile, which I returned for a split second before the puck was dropped. I sticked it out of her reach and passed it to Jake. I remained off to the side, close to the boards, waiting for Jake's pass. When I finally got it, I did not even get a chance to think about it before I was slammed against the glass.

Hearing a loud whistle and a yell of 'Boarding', I blinked my eyes open with a grunt. Riku stood over me, a blank expression on his face. Turning around, he muttered, "That was for taking Kairi from me."

He started to skate away before I jumped up, grabbing the collar of his shirt and shoving him against the wall, yelling, "_You_!"

He chuckled, "Yes, me. What are you going to do about it, Sora? Cry like last time?"

Growling and shoving him harder into the wall, hearing everyone coming up behind us, I spat, "May I remind you who scarred your face?"

"That's right," I felt an impact to my stomach, causing me to release my grip on him and double over, coughing roughly, "There's for that."

"Sora!" Kairi skidded over to me, collapsing to her knees next to me. I sat back up with a glare, wincing in pain and pretending as if I was defeated. Watching Ryou's confident smirk, I kicked my skate against the back of his legs, causing him to loose balance. I jumped over to him, ignoring Kairi's tugging and pleas, throwing my fist against his cheek and receiving an equal blow to my nose, back. That was all we both managed to do before we were held back and carried off in different directions, him by the referee and I by my friends.

After receiving icepacks, an endless amount of tissues for my nosebleed, and what not, they kicked me and everyone else out of the building; not being aloud to return for the rest of the summer.

"Sora, what was up with that?" Jake asked as we sat in the parking lot, waiting for our parents, "Riku's your best friend."

"Wasn't Riku…Ryou." I muttered, not in the mood to talk. Not happy at all about the fact that he had managed to escape again.

"I know you don't like him and all, but _that_? You've never gone off like that, Sora, _never_." The brunette stated with a deepened frown, removing the helmet from his head and turning to me, expecting an answer.

I glanced at Kairi, who's expression explained that she had no way of coming up with an excuse this time, which meant we were putting _two_ more people in danger. Tidus had been around us constantly, but yet we had never really explained the whole situation to him, either. I looked back to Jake, closed my eyes with a deep sigh, reopening them and opening my mouth to begin our explanation. However, Kairi beat me to it.

"You guys, you have to promise not to tell any one else about this, and pretend that you _don't_ know if any one does ask you about it,"

They nodded, quietly answering, "I promise."

And so, we confessed the past year. Kairi's being betrothed to Ryou, her parents calling it off, their deaths, Ryou's constant haunting presence, all the threats, why I wanted Jake to watch her; and him taking it to the point of _raping_ her.

"…_Wow_. I'm so sorry, Kairi; I never knew. You're always so _happy. _You must be really strong," Jake gushed out after hearing the on-going events. Tidus remained silent, staring at the sidewalk and fiddling with his goalie helmet.

Kairi gave a light laugh, "Thanks." The sound of car tires against the asphalt all caused us to turn our heads and to stand up.

"Ow…" I muttered rubbing my stomach, where Ryou had inflicted the most damage.

Leaning against Kairi for support to walk with less pain as we began towards the car, Selphie then asked loudly, "What are we suppose to tell your mom?"

"She's use to seeing me like this after a hockey game." I answered with a laugh that was cut off abruptly and turned into a painful cough. The two girls nodded, saying nothing more as we entered car, Tidus and Jake taking the very back seats of the car.

Mom turned around from the front seat, asking with a soft smile, "Tough game, huh?"

I smiled back, "Yeah…"

A few minutes after we had left the parking lot, Kairi looked up at me with a look that desperately asked, '_So what happens now?_'. I gave a soft smile, placed my hand over hers and quickly kissed her forehead, leaving my head pressed against hers once I pulled away. '_What ever happens, we'll make it through._' were my unspoken answer, despite everything that was about to unfold.


	18. Good Enough

**The final chapter…I finished editing this a whole lot faster than I thought I would. It's almost as heartbreaking as finishing it the first time lol. My baby's finally complete, all the way! It's coming up on its third year anniversary, actually; in nineteen days. Man, I can't believe that…**

**Well, here's the end of Shattered Dreams in it's full and complete form; I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it/editing it/continuing to remake it into an original story.**

**Disclaimer: I haven't owned KH the past 17 chapters, so why would I now?**

Shattered Dreams: Chapter Eighteen

XXX

A blush crept its way across my cheeks as I reminisced the scene Kairi and I had shared the other day in the gazebo that I was currently seated in. '_My thoughts have just been getting worse and worse…'_ I sighed, propping my head against a support beam.

My sapphire eyes blinked at the crystal clear day as if it were too good to be true. Ryou had remained unseen since the incident at the hockey rink, so my worries of him hurting her again were soon at the back of my mind. It was not that I forgot what he _did_ to her, but it just seemed like when I was with her doing things like _that_, it seemed like those actions being wrong did not apply to me because I knew Kairi loved me; but it did apply to me without her agreement.

She had given me that, and that is what left me in such an awkward position. _I _was expected to be the conscience for the both of us, and truthfully I didn't think it was going to work. But I tried, and Kairi knew that.

If Mom kept talking to me about my future like she did that one day, then maybe I would finally be knocked to my senses. I wished she could; my thoughts were tearing me apart again. But I could not literally _tell_ my mom what I was thinking, because that would have been just wrong. Asking Jake for advice would have been awkward; we were good friends, but not _that_ much. Riku would tell me _to_ have sex with Kairi and not worry about it; which was an obvious _no_.

I stood up, shaking my head and grinning at the thought of my silver-haired friend. His ways may have suited him, but certainly not me. Walking across the yard at a slow pace, my thoughts continued, '_I can't talk to Kairi because she'd feel pressured. Selphie would be weirded out…Who am I supposed to talk to? Roxas?…No, same thing as Jake…_'

Pressing my hand against the wall, I stared at my back door. I did not want to return into my deadly silent house; excluding the sounds of the TV show that Mom was watching. Retreating back into the yard, I collapsed backwards onto the lush grass.

"What are you doing?" A voice asked from behind me.

I jumped up, turning to the older teen; asking, "Riku?"

"Yeah, my nose isn't broken," He pointed out, kneeling down to face me, "and I'm not bruised."

I gave a light smirk, "Yeah. I guess if you were Ryou, you wouldn't want to be near me, huh?"

He shrugged; dismissing the subject, "So what's bugging you?"

"What're you talking about?" I asked with a small tilt of my head, erasing the smirk from my face. How did he _know_?

"Well you were obviously dazed off, thinking about something," Riku explained, "Or else you would have noticed me when you walked past to head towards your back door…Or at least when you turned around to come back."

…Crap. He was right.

"It's nothing. Really," I answered, flicking off stray pieces of grass from my fingertips and looking up at Riku.

He rolled his aquamarine eyes, "_C'mon_. It's got to be something good by the way you're avoiding it."

I grumbled incoherently at his interrogation, which continued into several exclamations of "Tell me!" followed by reasons why I should. I had laid back down; covered my ears and closed my eyes, "I don't have to if I don't want to!"

He continued his questions, "Anything to do with Kairi?"

"…Kinda." I answered truthfully, hesitantly.

"So what is it?" He continued to invade into my thoughts. I opened my mouth to respond, but shut it for lack of something to say; or at least, to say to _him_.

"What is what?" Jake's voice came from behind me.

Bolting up and turning around; I exclaimed, "When'd _you_ get here?"

"Just now," The brunette answered, nodding his head towards Riku as he continued, "I figured he might be Ryou giving you trouble again. But this sounds interesting too."

Groaning, I collapsed back onto the grass, "Great, now I'll have you _both_ stalking me about it."

"Well we wouldn't 'stalk' you about it if you would tell us what _it_ is!" Riku pointed out, flicking a spike of my hair.

Running a hand through my hair, I turned over, away from my friends, "Meh."

"Don't tell me this is just you freaking out over the fact that your emotions for Kairi are going over a PG rating…" Riku replied in a tired tone.

I whirled around; a light blush making its way across my face, "_How--_"

Riku pointed a finger in my face with a wide grin, "So that _is_ it!"

Jake too, burst into laughter, "That's all?"

"_Shut. Up._" I answered in a sour tone, my face growing warmer.

"Come _on_, Sora! I saw you and Kairi the other day, remember? What are you embarrassed about?" Jake's face scrunched up as he pictured Kairi and me in who-knows-what-ways from Riku's statement.

"I…I don't know. And Jake, stop picturing me in R-rated ways," I gave the brunette a stare, causing him to make a gagging noise and stick out his tongue, "I just don't wanna feel like I'm taking advantage of her, you know?"

"But you're not," Riku argued with a raised eyebrow.

"I am if we're not ready to take on certain responsibilities." I spoke back. Jake's face solemn while Riku still felt the need to press on.

"Sora, you know how unlikely--" He started before Jake interrupted him.

"Actually, not really. You sure you paid attention in health class?" The brunette questioned, "And I think I know more about you now than I need to, Riku."

I smiled, my blush almost gone, "Yeah, see?" Riku twiddled with his thumbs, not knowing what to say. "It's okay. We all have our different opinions," I stated, standing up; heading towards my house, "So stop harassing me, okay? Okay." With my hand lingering over the doorknob of my backdoor, I paused; turning around to add, "Thanks for the idea." Receiving blank stares from both Riku and Jake, I shut the door; heading off towards my room with a grin plastered upon my face.

"Who else was out there, Sora?" Mom questioned, defeating my attempt to pass through the kitchen unnoticed.

"Just Riku and Jake," My grin dropping, I replied as I continued on my way to the stairs, "They saw me outside and stopped by for a few minutes."

She answered with an, "Oh," her eyes following me as I made the turn out of the room. I shrugged it off; because after all, she _was_ my mom. It was not like I was ever going to understand any of her actions.

'_I wonder if Kairi will be as strange as her when we're older?'_ I asked mentally; answering myself with a returning grin and a laugh, '_Nah…She's already strange enough.' _Hearing my laugh echo off the empty walls of the staircase, I hurried my pace to escape any further questioning from my mom. Not that it really mattered, but it _did_ save time.

With a sly grin still up my lips, I grabbed the phone from the stand it residing upon in the hallway and turned towards my bedroom. Absent-mindedly dialing Kairi's number (which was really Selphie's), I closed the door behind me. "Selphie, is Kai--…no. It's not related to hockey…_or that…_Selphie, what are you--?" I answered the brunette's rambling with an eyebrow raised.

Finally, Kairi managed to retrieve the phone from the younger girl, "Hey, what's up? You usually never call; you just walk down the road."

"Yeah well, I feel like being different today."

First giggling, she answered, "So what's your real reason?"

I smiled from making her laugh; absent-mindedly starting to tap my fingers against the wall, "Can you meet me at that playground we use to always play at when we were little? You know, the one a little ways past Tidus' house."

"Yeah, sure. What for?"

"Cause I wanna talk to you," I answered; a slight pause before adding, "…Alone."

Kairi answered in a mocking whisper, "So, in other words, take a different way to lose Selphie, who will probably follow me?"

"Hey!" Came a yell from the background.

"Exactly," I laughed, moving my finger over the 'end' button on the phone, "Love you, see ya soon." Hanging up without waiting for an answer; I rushed my way out of the room, hastily placing the phone back onto its charger.

XXX

"Hi," A soft voice spoke, causing my sapphire eyes to divert upward from the ground.

"Hey," I answered with a smile to match hers, slowing the pace of my swinging.

Taking the swing next to me and pushing herself forward; Kairi began with, "So…?"

"Well…" I trailed off, beginning to swing back and forth; hesitant to speak, "You know how I'm kinda putting us in the position of growing up to fast…?"

Skidding her feet against the ground and coming to a stop, Kairi gave a frown, "Sora, you're not--"

I shook my head at her response; stopping too, "I _am_. We're still so young and immature; we shouldn't be thinking about this stuff…The most we should really have to worry about is like where we should have for lunch or what to wear to prom; and even that's kinda far away. Stuff like that. We're supposed to enjoy being kids, like we still are," I leaned across the distance of the swings to gently press my lips against her forehead, "Instead of trying to grow up so fast."

She turned her head away; a smile traced upon her lips as she began to swing again, "You do know you seem to get more and more amazing with each passing day, right Sora?"

"I try," I admitted; my eyes following her back and forth.

Glancing to me and noticing my stare, she asked, "Aren't you going to swing, silly?"

"Oh," I blushed, kicking off the ground.

"You were serious about 'being kids again', huh?" Kairi asked in a laugh.

"What?" I questioned back. '_Did she really not get what I was talking about…?'_

"You're blushing," She pointed a finger in my face as she passed me, "You haven't blushed in so long. It seems like it's always me now, instead."

"Heh, yeah. And you're not helping either, Kairi." I stated, turning away to hide my tomato-shaded face.

"Sorry," She apologized; scraping her feet against the ground.

Merely jumping off this time instead of wasting the time to slow down and turning to the redhead, I asked, "Ready to head home?"

"Not really," She wrapped both of her arms around one of mine in a serpentine manner, "I wanna spend some more time with you."

"Alright," I answered with a soft smile; beginning to walk forward along with Kairi. Following a slight shudder of a bush and the muttering of 'Ow'; she gasped and latched onto my arm. Tensing myself, I called out loudly, "…Selphie?"

With a small cough, she answered from a distance, "…Yeah…"Both of us giving a huge sigh of relief, we made our way towards her.

"Selphie, shouldn't you be at home, or out with Tidus, even? Or are we _really_ that interesting?" I raised an eyebrow at the younger girl; she standing up, dusting off her jeans.

"I dunno," She shrugged, "Old habits just die hard, I guess."

"I need to start taking you to hockey games for dates," I pointed out to Kairi with a playful smirk, "She won't follow us in _there_…"

"Is that suppose to be suggestive?" Selphie retorted, crossing her arms and adding a frown to her features.

"A suggestion, yes." I answered pointedly, "The way you're thinking, no. And I thought you were such an innocent freshman, Selphie…You disappoint me."

Replying in incoherent mumbles, Selphie began to walk off. Watching the younger girl with uneasy eyes, Kairi looked up at me, "I should probably follow her…"

"Alright," I nodded, then tilting my head to kiss her, "See you…Uh, tomorrow?"

Releasing my hand with a laugh, she walked forward; turning around with a smile, "Yeah."

Letting her walk a few more feet ahead, I called out, "I love you!"

She turned around; encircling her mouth with her hands to yell back her response, "I love you too!" With a final wave, she sprinted off to catch up with Selphie.

I walked back into my house with a smile. Of course, Mom couldn't help but to question me of everything possible.

"Oh, come _on!_ When am I ever _not_ smiling?" I commented in annoyance, "What are you trying to get at?"

"Because that's not your usual goofy grin," She pointed out, ruffling my hair before I pulled back, "That's your _Kairi _grin."

"Kairi grin?" I repeated in a laugh.

"The _I'm-so-in-love-with-this-girl_ grin any better? I'd recognize it anywhere. Oh, you look so much like your father…" She gave a far-off sigh with a soft smile.

"And that's your 'I'm-an-overly-obsessed-mother smile," I imitated her words, mirroring her smile, "Can I go upstairs now?"

"Yeah, yeah," She passed by; patting my back to clarify that it was okay.

"Thank you," I gave a faked sigh and retreated up the stairs. The rest of my night was merely laziness. Watching TV, playing video games, you name it--until several 'clunk!' sounds on the window broke me from my cycle.

Pushing the window upward, I peered out the window to spot a certain girl. Speaking quietly, I asked, "…Kairi? Why are you out there?"

"You said we're only young once, right?" She questioned back; throwing another pebble that barely missed my head and disappeared into my room, "I've always seen this in movies but I've never heard of anyone actually doing it."

"That's because it's suppose to be the _guy_ outside the window," I commented with a snicker, receiving a 'hmph' in return, "Ahh…Hold on, I'll be down there in a couple of minutes. I have to somehow sneak down the stairs and retrieve the house key without making noise. I swear Mom has bat hearing; she hears _everything_."

With that, I gently shut the window; leaving it unlocked incase that if for some reason I had to manage sneaking back in from climbing up the tree and through there. Creeping into the hallway, all I received from Mom's room was gentle snores, giving me the clear.

Tiptoeing down the stairs, I made extra effort as to not accidentally slip or bump into a picture frame as I usually did. Finally safe on the first floor, I grabbed my key, which was conveniently dangling from the wall, and silently retreated outside.

Not even a moment after I heard the gentle click of the door closing came the whine of, "What took you so _long_?"

"I had to make myself presentable," I answered jokingly, turning to the redhead fully. Noting her pajama pants and tank top, I commented, "Uh…Kairi, what was the point of you changing?"

"I don't know…" She responded in a teasing voice, twirling her hair on her finger as if to say 'I'm not doing anything wrong…I'm innocent, I swear.'

Looking down at the ground a bit, I trailed off, "Kairi…"

"Don't worry so much, Sora," She stated reassuringly, lacing her fingers into mine, "I'm just testing to see if you can keep to what you said."

"Or maybe you're just taunting me." I answered with a mock glare, receiving a smirk in return.

"So maybe I am." She answered, beginning to walk away.

I trailed off behind her in a pout, "You're evil…" The red-head suddenly stopped, causing me to ask where we were suppose to be going in the first place.

"Mm…how about the lake?" Kairi trailed off, eventually coming up with a satisfactory answer and beginning to walk again.

"Random, but sure?" I nodded, following after her.

"It's not really random. I use to live there; remember?" She turned around with a small smile; but not her usual smile, it was a testing smile. Like saying, "If you don't remember…I can't even begin to describe the torture I'll put you through." without words.

"Oh," I replied, scratching the back of my head as I recalled, "Yeah, I remember. That was a while ago; you moved in like third grade."

"Yeah."

"So why there?" My eyes glanced downward to hers.

With sapphire orbs glistening in the moonlight in a misty, dazed kind of way; she gave an answer, "Because it's peaceful, beautiful…" Looking at me, she continued, "And Sora, if you use that "not as beautiful as you" line, you're so dead."

I laughed; shaking my head and assuring her, "I won't…Am I really that predictable?"

"Sora, I've known you almost my whole life," Kairi answered; then pointing out, "It'd be a shame if I didn't know you inside and out."

"Yeah, I guess so…" I trailed off; slowly losing Kairi's attention as the lake came into view. Not that the pale moonlight splayed across the still water was not breathtaking; but seriously, you can only stare at something for _so_ long. And I really did not understand the way that it hypnotized her so much. If it was not for the railing along the edge of the water, I swear she would have fallen in.

Studying her expressions as she stared at the water, how they changed from soft smiles to deepened frowns and then back again; I raised an eyebrow in wonder. After a few glances between Kairi and the water beneath her, I finally decided to approach her. Coming from behind, I wrapped my arms around her waist and rested my cheek softly against hers; she flinching in surprise from the unexpected contact. In a quiet and soft tone, as to not to disturb whatever was going through her mind; I asked, "Kai, what are you thinking about?"

Blinking and her eyes returning to their normal state; she directed her eyes to me, "A mix of memories."

I had to chuckle slightly, "I noticed by the way your expression kept changing like that."

She smiled sheepishly, "Oh. I can imagine how weird that looked…"

"Not _too_ weird." I reassured her with a grin, swaying her slightly.

"That's go--wahd…" Kairi dragged out the end of her statement in a yawn, "Hehe…I guess I'm tired."

"You _guess_ you're tired, huh?" I retorted with a snort, receiving a glare from Kairi in return. Quickly feeling regret from my answer and returning my expression to a straight face; I asked, "So…uh…you wanna go home?"

"Yeah," She nodded; breaking free of my grasp to walk away and stretch her arms out in a yawn, "Time to sleep…"

"Okay…" I answered in a pout, following behind the redhead.

Crossing her arms with a somewhat stern look, Kairi questioned, "Now what are you doing _that_ for? You know you're only going to blame me for your lack of sleep tomorrow."

"Heh," My lips turned upward into a grin; fingers lacing through hers, "Probably." A few minutes of silence passed by; not awkward silence, mind you, but a refreshing one. As we reached the main road, I asked, "How'd you get out from your house any way, Kairi?"

"Same way as you," Kairi glanced up at me to continue talking, her eyes having the same effect on me as the water did to her; making the rest of her sentence merely words that had no meaning to them, "I just had to sneak downstairs without making any noise."

The jingling of her keys snapped me out of my daze and alerted me that Kairi was leaving; for now. Lowering my voice to a whisper, speaking as she began to unlock the door, "Sure you don't want some company…?"

Suggestive, yes. Did I care? No.

She turned around and rolled her eyes at me, smiling as she said, "I'm sure we'll be in enough trouble."

"You're no fun…" I stated playfully, leaning downwards to kiss her. The taste of her lips filled my senses and made me reluctant to pull away, and I could tell I had the same effect on her. With this fact, I decided to take it one step further, continuing my kiss across her cheek and slightly down her neck before she let out a giggle. "Goodnight," I whispered into her ear; beginning to pull away. I hadn't even begun to lift my head before Kairi unexpectedly pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Good night…" She breathed into my shirt. I rubbed her back affectionately for a moment before she released her grip, my arms slowly drifting back at my sides; Kairi giving a soft smile before retreating into the house. Hearing the soft click of the door lock, I spun around and dragged my feet in the direction of my own house. I was in such a dazed state afterward I did not even both trying to be quiet when re-entering the house; and that was a big mistake.

Waking up the next morning and sitting at the kitchen table, there was a stern look on Mom's face that clearly said, "Busted." Opening my mouth to begin an explanation, I quickly realized I did not have one. I' would just have to suffer Mom's wrath.

"And where were _you_ going so late at night, _hmm?_" She asked, her voice full of daggers waiting to lunge at me if I made one wrong move.

"…I went to the lake where Kairi use to live, with her." I answered truthfully, in a barely audible tone; the truth is supposed to save you, after all.

Her frown deepened to my despair, crossing her arms as she spoke again, "…And did what?"

"We just talked! Is there something _wrong_ with that?" I snapped at her unspoken assumption.

"Sora…" She began, her expression softening a bit, "It's just that at this age--"

"Yeah, yeah, I _know_. I already hear enough from my friends…Even my own _mind_. I get the point." I intervened with a tired stare. She said no more, giving a shrug and walking out of the room. I groaned, collapsing downward onto the table and stretching out my arms.

'_Why do hormones always have to make you seem like such a complete __jerk__?'_ I lightly kicked a table leg in frustration. The phone then rang, seemingly a cure to my annoyance; but the voice on the other line was not in the tone that I wanted to hear.

"…Sora?" Kairi squeaked out pitifully through the speaker.

"What's wrong?" I questioned back in a scared tone. Now why did this seem familiar?

"Just come to Selphie's house, okay?"

Before receiving a click on the other end, I answered a quiet "…Okay."

'_Not again… Not this soon!' _I screamed inside my head, rushing out the front door; again not bothering to give Mom an explanation. '_Everything was so good for a while…Why does he have to ruin __everything__? Why does he have to hurt Kairi?_' My breath caught in my throat as I came upon Selphie's house and what use to be a window. It being smashed into pieces, I seriously wondered how none of the neighbors had noticed.

"Is that you, Sora?" Ryou taunted from inside the house in a singsong voice; his face slowly appearing through the broken window.

Clenching my teeth, I dashed forward; stopping in my tracks after he revealed a glimmering object from his pocket. Ryou eyed the cocked gun and exchanged glances from me to it several times before putting the safety on and storing it back inside his pocket, "Don't worry. I'm not done with you yet."

"Where's Kairi!?" I exclaimed, my voice cracking horribly as I did.

"Worry not," His aquamarine eyes flicked in delight of my obvious pain, "Stay here…"

I did, as much as I did not want to; watching the darkened hallway for a glimpse of the redhead, with no success for what seemed like forever. Ryou eventually reappeared with Kairi in tow, holding her by her wrists. She looked horrid; bloodshot eyes, scratches and bruises covering her body…Just like last time.

"Kairi!" I reached out to her in a desperate cry. She attempted to grab my hand before she was pulled back against Ryou. "…What do you _want_?" I asked, blinking back the tears of frustration.

"What do you think?" Ryou asked with a cock of his head, placing his hand slightly under the front of Kairi's shirt; she flinching, "I want _her._"

"If you haven't noticed, she doesn't want _you_." I replied, yelling through clenched teeth, "Why do you think she resists you? Do you get pleasure out of taking advantage of her? Because she's not just acting like she's helpless against you. That's not love, Ryou; that's rape. All you're doing is making her life a living _hell_!" He pulled out the gun to point at me again before I could blink, after I had finished my statement.

"You're lying…" He whispered, his eyes wide as he waved the gun at me.

I have a half-laugh, "Oh yeah? Then tell me why Kairi flinches when you touch her."

"Shut up!" Ryou yelled back; the click of the safety on the gun turning off cutting through the silence of the house.

"_SHE HATES YOU!_" I screamed out, a gunshot in response. I locked my eyes shut, awaiting the bullet to rip through my skin.

…But it never came.

Hearing a thump on the floor, my immediate thought was, '_**Kairi**__!'_ When I did open my eyes, the person who was lying on the floor was…Ryou.

Riku stood over the body, a look of disgust present on his face. "Riku!" I exclaimed, stepping over Ryou and giving Riku a tight hug, "_Thank you…_" Letting go of him and allowing Kairi to finish doing the same, I then clamped onto her.

"Kairi, _thank God…_" I kissed her forehead then her lips, holding her face gently and stroking my thumbs against the side of her cheeks, "You're okay, right? Where are Selphie and her mom? Please tell me they're okay, too…" Either Kairi was in complete shock or I spoke too fast for her to comprehend because she merely stared at me for a second before nodding in response. She pointed a finger down the hallway, taking my hand and beginning to lead me, Riku following.

Barely around the corner, another shot was fired. "_Riku_!" We both yelled out as we watched him fall to the ground; both of us falling to our knees and scrambling to his side. I lifted my eyes to Ryou; a sick smirk planted on his face as his eyes glazed over and the gun fell from his grasp. Turning my head away in repulsion, I closed my eyes for a minute to take in the fact that he was actually gone. Opening my eyes, I looked back at Riku to check his condition. Clutching his leg, he lifted his hand to reveal a gushing wound and a bloodstained hand.

"Kairi," She looked up with overflowing eyes, "Go help Selphie and her Mom…I…I'll call the police…" She stayed still for a moment before nodding, and bolting towards the end of the hallway.

XXX

"Ready for school to start?" I asked, mocking Kairi and her miscalculation of the price for the food we were ordering a while ago.

She groaned, crossing her arms and hugging herself as if it were cold enough to snow and pouting, "C'mon, Sora, that's like a month away! Don't remind me!"

"Both of you still act like you're ten." Riku commented, surpassing us on crutches and taking a seat at a table in the far off corner of the restaurant.

"I'd say like…_Freshmeeen!_" Selphie exclaimed in a poor attempt to imitate my voice, bursting out into a giggle fit afterward.

I did not reply; I only grinned. After all, I was glad she was still alive to mock me; same goes for her mom. Kairi had never been happier now that she had nothing to worry about. I did not even think she remembered the word frown. Well, as long as I kept my perverted remarks to myself she did not. As for Riku, his leg was slowly getting better. If it were not for the fact that he hurt himself _again_ the day after he was shot because he thought he could walk without crutches, he could have probably gone without them.

As for me, I have always got some kind of problem; like mental ones. Heh. But for now, I can say that all my shattered dreams were mended.


	19. Author's note2

Hey guys! So, it's been awhile since I finished this. My main priority for a while has been my new fanfic "Waltz of the Damned" but I also have had a side project; though I must admit I haven't worked on it in a long time.

That project is Shattered Dreams, the novel. Yes, I am un-original enough to turn my fanfiction into a novel lol. It has the same core plot, but a lot of things are different. The character's personalities are slightly different but not by much, for one thing. The main character of the story is Cameron, although it tells a lot about Lynette's past and abusing parents (you should recognize those two as Sora and Kairi).

If your curiousity is strong, my penname on Fictionpress is Brookeispwnful

**But getting to my main point. For the past couple of days, my brain could not focus on writing WoTD; as much as I love it. I kept thinking about Shattered Dreams, my older baby lol. So, I've been working really hard to edit all of it.**

**In these edited chapters there's ****new scenes****new dialouge****, and just plain out things kept the same just re-worded to sound better. I've had a lot of fun going back down memory lane with this story and if you really enjoyed it a lot, I highly suggest that you read the new and improved version. **

**More of the dramatic changes are in Act I or Kairi's PoV because that was written in seventh to eighth grade. Sora's PoV was written towards the end of eighth and beginning of ninth, so there was not much to be done except for make all the tense the same. I added a few new lines, but not as much as I did with the first ten chapters.**

**Once again, thank you for those of you who stuck with this story even though the writing in the first few chapters was HORRIBLE, and thank so much for all the reviews that have collected over time. Two hundred and ten; I still can't believe that. Thank you all so much.**

**Love,**

**Emerald31**


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